by Thinus Ferreira
The SABC now admits that its shortsighted scheduling moves with its Afrikaans TV news bulletin were done without any market research, with the public broadcasters moving it yet again from this month: Now to 17:30 on weekdays and from SABC2 to SABC3, and to 19:30 over weekends on SABC3.
The constant timeslot shifts and channel changes of the SABC's Afrikaans TV news already cost the broadcaster millions of rand in lost advertising income as well as the loss of hundreds of thousands of viewers.
The Afrikaans TV news was suddenly and inexplicably moved in March 2024 from SABC2 to SABC3 and the much later 20:30 timeslot where it lost further viewers on the SABC's terrestrial TV channel with the smallest transmitter reach.
During the week the SABC's Afrikaans TV news bulletin has around 290 000 viewers on SABC2, and over weekends 550 000 on SABC3.
Now the SABC is once again moving it from July to 17:30 on weekdays and away from SABC2 to SABC3.
The news bulletins of language groupings with fewer viewers are currently broadcast at 17:30, like the Siswati and Ndebele bulletins on SABC1, and the Venda and Tsonga bulletins on SABC2.
The two Afrikaans weekend TV news bulletins, which was at 18:15 on Saturdays and Sundays on SABC3 are moving to 19:30 from this first weekend in July 2025.
The SABC is further planning to make these two bulletins 30 minutes in duration again, back to the length it used to be.
There's been no explanation as to why the SABC is moving the weekday Afrikaans TV news bulletins from SABC2 to SABC3, which the broadcaster says targets a "millennial audience".
Daniëlle Wass, bulletin editor of the SABC's Afrikaans TV news, told the SABC's RSG radio station that no market research was done before the SABC moved the Afrikaans TV news to SABC3 and the late 20:30 timeslot.
"Even my dad said to me 'I'm sorry, I know it's your bulletin, but I can't [watch it]".
According to Daniëlle Wass, the new 17:30 timeslot for Afrikaans TV news "is also an inconvenient time for a lot of people - a lot of them are still on the road". She also called the new weekend timeslot of 19:30 "a bit uncomfortable".
"Over the past while there wasn't much market research done about news bulletins," she said. "It was an expensive trial and error to see the bulletins so up and down where it fits," she said.
"Perhaps we should have looked at this more. Perhaps we should have gone about it more carefully. I think the lack of research failed us in being able to know who our viewers are, what our viewers want and what they are comfortable with."
Nomsa Chabeli, SABC CEO, called the scrapping of the Afrikaans TV news over weekends during the first weekend of April a "scheduling error". Insiders said Nomsa Chabeli was however aware that the plan was to remove the Afrikaans TV news over weekends permanently.
Mmoni Ngubane, SABC spokesperson, didn't respond to a media query about the SABC's latest timeslot moves and TV channel move of the Afrikaans TV news bulletin.
Dr. Elsabe Pepler, communication specialist and media expert in Cape Town, says the SABC's decision to move the Afrikaans TV news to 17:30 "is simply daft".
"Thousands of people are still in traffic, moms and dads are busy looking after kids and meals."
She explains sponsors and advertisers must get something back for their expensive commercial investment in TV ads - "they want new customers".
"If a company or organisation realises that viewership ratings are going down in the timeslot during which the news is broadcast, it becomes a less attractive and profitable timeslot. The broadcast times of news on SABC3 at 17:30 is definitely not one of the most profitable timeslots."
She says, "the result of this scheduling decision will likely be that news viewership will fall further, that advertisers won't get the exposure they seek and that the SABC's revenue from advertisements during the news will drop further".
Dr. Mardi Delport, senior lecturer in communication science at the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, says people watch the news in the evening and that's where it should be shown.
"The 18:00 to 19:00 timeslots will always remain the most popular options and golden standard for TV news since the largest potential audience is lured to watch TV then when people arrive home from work and prepare dinner. We then actively seek out information about our day and our community."
She says the move of the Afrikaans TV news to 17:30 on weekdays is "a step in the right direction but still not perfect. Viewers prefer stability regarding the content offering and timeslots".
