The first episode of the "in very bad taste" Tropika Island of Treasure 5: Jamaica on Saturday on SABC1 pulled 2,345 million viewers at 18:30 but didn't represent a viewership and ratings spike due to the inclusion of the dead model Reeva Steenkamp.
Reeva Steenkamp who was a contestant in Tropika Island of Treasure 5: Jamaica was shot in the head and killed by her boyfriend Oscar Pistorius just two days before. Oscar Pistorius is in jail awaiting the conclusion of his bail application and is then facing a premeditated murder charge.
On Monday I asked the South Africa Advertising Research Foundation (Saarf) who compiles and tabulates South Africa's TV viewership under the TAMS ratings system for Saturday's viewership figures which I received today.
Interestingly less than a 10th of the available South African TV audience watching television on Saturday night bothered to tune into Tropika Island of Treasure 5: Jamaica.
With a 7,7 AMR only 7,7% of the available viewers older than 15 (the demographic and target market most desired and of significance for advertisers) tuned to SABC1 to watch the first episode, according to figures released by Saarf. It doesn't represent a rating spike for the show - in fact it's quite average for the SABC1 timeslot.
Given the instant hype preceding the advertiser-funded production (AFP) which SABC1 and the production company Stimulii refused to pull, it was expected that the viewership for the first episode of the product placement filled Tropika Island of Treasure 5 would have been higher.
Tropika Island of Treasure 5: Jamaica did get a boost over the 4th season which was shown on e.tv, but SABC1's overall reach as a channel is bigger and therefore has a bigger potential viewership available since it's physical TV signal is being transmitted to, and can be received by, slightly more homes and TV households than e.tv.
Compared to the 2,345 million viewers who tuned in for the first episode of the 5th season, 1,75 million viewers with a 6 AMR (or 6% of the total audience watching television) watched the first episode of the 4th season of Tropika Island of Treasure on e.tv, according to figures supplied by Saarf.
The 5th season of Tropika Island of Treasure therefore only pulled a marginally better viewership on a new channel with a bigger signal footprint, and doesn't appear to have been affected by a "dead model effect".
