While the number of total South African TV viewers and TV households have increased substantially and while the number of pay TV subscribers have increased substantially (thanks to DStv Compact) - ACTUAL VIEWERSHIP is going down. That means that although more people have TV's and more people have pay TV, less people are actually watching TV - especially since September 2009.
If you want to know WHY, click on READ MORE below, and I'll tell you.
So, while the actual number of TV viewers in South Africa has now increased to just over 25 million, less of them are actually watching TV on a daily basis. Interesting, huh?
Did you know that South African TV viewership has been declining on a month to month basis since September 2009? Even though the number of potential South African TV viewers has in fact grown tremendously in 2009, less people are actually WATCHING.
Why, may you ask? The answers are mostly speculative but keep in mind all of the following.
Remember those huge electricity tariff increases from Eskom passed on to local municipalities which kicked in in September? More people might be inclined to switch off the TV set, where before it was passively in the background. More TV viewers might now only be switching on for a specific show, stay for that, and press the power button when they're done.
Sport is a big driver of TV viewing in general, but in 2009 we saw much less of it in total.
Look at the number of repeats and rebroadcasts on especially free to air channels like the SABC and e.tv. It increased in 2009 compared to previous years. People tend to not want to watch the same show twice - especially when it's a local production of average or less than average quality. This trend is also set to continue in 2010 with the SABC commissioning a mere fraction of new local content for 2010. This shock is still going to hit viewers fully in 2010 - which the SABC will try and mitigate and disguise by 2010 FIFA World Cup Soccer coverage.
The looming World Cup Soccer bring us to another point that could be impacting lower TV viewership: less people are home in time. Massive national roadworks and construction could be having an impact on less people home in time for early prime time TV viewing (how many stories do you remember where accidents and road closures directly linked to road upgrades and construction in 2009 caused traffic havoc?)
The quality of TV shows are also in play. Less good TV also translate into less viewers. 2009 wasn't a particularly strong year for local TV shows in South Africa.
South African movie attendance has shot up dramatically in 2009. As we all know, you can only do one thing or be in one physical place at any one time. Most people go to the movies during the evening. Sitting in a cinema, means a potential TV viewer is not available to watch television.
