SABC3's Turnaround Strategy for the channel is incorporated within the SABC's broader Turnaround Strategy for the South African public broadcaster.
SABC3 is the SABC's only commercial TV channel but has lost viewers and advertiser appeal the past few years as the channel's focus on "quality shows" got diluted.
The channel has been working on rebuilding its image and programming line-up but its been a difficult process hampered by the SABC's overall financial problems making the acquisition of quality international TV content very difficult.
In the SABC's latest financial report for 2011/2012 the broadcaster says SABC3 did not achieve the set goal to deliver the audience targets which was set for LSM 7 to 10 viewers.
SABC3 viewers are fed a moribund plethora of old international shows on the general entertainment channel ranging from The Cosby Show, Mission Impossible and properties such as the 70s version of Hawaii Five-0 which are usually the stable of niche pay-TV channels such as Fox Retro (TopTV 181) specializing in TV library titles.
"The SABC's financial position crippled the the television network's ability to sustain its competitiveness as the acquisition of content was restrained," says the SABC. "The Turnaround Strategy for this channel [SABC3] suffered many setbacks, due largely to the failure to deliver on international content; however the channel has been successful in maintaining its all-adults audiences."
