by Thinus Ferreira
The SABC is stepping in to try and save the costly new locally-produced telenovela The Estate on SABC3 that desperately needs to attract more viewers and that is struggling with low and falling ratings and in an unprecedented and bizarre programming move, will now show it during primetime on two of its TV channels from 6 September when SABC1 will add it as a rebroadcast.
The Estate - produced by Clive Morris Productions, and positioned as the replacement of SABC3's cancelled Isidingo that ended in March 2020 - made its debut in April with a disappointing ratings-high of just 529 123 viewers in its 19:00-timeslot when the public broadcaster's struggling sole commercial TV channel SABC3 rebranded as "S3" with a new on-air look.
While the production cost of the ensemble series remains the same, The Estate's TV ratings have since slid to 526 738 at most in May, 492 127 viewers at most in June, and 503 193 viewers at most in July.
While August ratings are not yet final, The Estate's viewership took a further knock this month after e.tv launched its new primetime weekday soap, House of Zwide, replacing its cancelled Rhythm City, in the 19:00-timeslot, further siphoning viewers away, along with Legacy on M-Net (DStv 101).
Now, although its three terrestrial TV channels are catering to different demographics and with The Estate that was developed specifically for SABC3-audiences, the SABC decided that SABC1 will be filling its 19:00-timeslot left vacant after the end of uBettina Wethu with The Estate in the form of primetime reruns.
As part of the bizarre scheduling decision, a rebroadcast from the beginning of The Estate will start on SABC1 from 6 September on SABC1, meaning that viewers will get a new episode of The Estate on S3 at 19:00, followed by a 5-month old repeat episode of The Estate in primetime on SABC1 at 19:30.
SABC1 says that The Estate double-bill spread over two channels during primetime gives "viewers an opportunity to catch the story from the beginning".
The Estate already has a next-day repeat on SABC3 at 11:00, and will likely also get a morning repeat slot on SABC1 in the way that uBettina Wethu has at 11:30.
In response to a media query about the motivation behind the scheduling move, SABC1 spokesperson Caroline Phalakatshela says it is to "give viewers who might have missed the premiere on SABC3 another opportunity to watch the show from the beginning and to migrate audiences to SABC3 to catch premiere episodes".
