by Thinus Ferreira
After collectively wiping over 5 million TV viewers during primetime from the country's television ratings in December 2022 Eskom's ongoing electricity blackouts in South Africa up to Stage 6 load-shedding did further damage to the country's viewership which was down another 2.5 million viewers in January.
Meanwhile, MultiChoice's new season of Big Brother: Titans which started on DStv on 15 January, as well as the Tshedza Pictures telenovela Gqeberha: The Empire produced in the Eastern Cape and which started on 16 January on DStv, both had disappointing viewership premieres.
Between SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 collectively the South African public broadcaster lost another 2.53 million viewers in January from its top 20 shows.
eMedia's free-to-air commercial TV channel e.tv kept steady, showing a slight increase from 33 to 33.2 million viewers in January for its top-rated shows.
In pay-TV, MultiChoice continued to shed thousands of DStv subscribers in January whose TV sets and decoders don't work when Eskom and cities leave suburbs powerless during Stage 6 loadshedding.
SABC1 lost another 1.81 million viewers across its top shows in January. Uzalo as the channel and the country's most-watched show kept steady with a slight viewership gain from 5.19 to 5.27 million viewers.
Generations - The Legacy in second place also held steady at 4.11 million viewers compared to December's 4.1 million viewers, while Skeem Saam as SABC1's third most-watched show gained viewers, going from 3.57 to 3.89 million viewers.
The Zulu TV news bulletin made gains rising from 1.966 to 2.198 million viewers, while the Xhosa TV news bulletin rose from 2.053 to 2.194 million viewers. The country's 2022 matric results announcement on 19 January drew 1.813 million viewers.
Spidey snares viewers for SABC3 web
On SABC2 the channel's most-watched show Muvhango showed small growth, going from 1.548 to 1.66 million viewers as the channel's only show pulling over a million viewers.
Kgatelopele was flat at 784 283 viewers, compared to December's 786 740, with Afrikaans soap 7de Laan also flat at 775 339 compared to December's 764 955 viewers. The Afrikaans TV news bulletin declined from 616 357 to 568 255 viewers.
The Setswana TV news bulletin climbed from 484 646 to 545 338 viewers, while Morning Live held steady at 444 316 viewers. The Venda/Tsonga TV news bulletin drew 367 592 viewers.
SABC3 showed slight ratings growth in January, going from 519 808 viewers who watched the FIFA World Cup match between Japan and Spain December as the channel's most-watched number, to the Sunday night film Taken pulling 597 658 viewers on 22 January.
Spidey helped to prop up SABC3 in January, with The Amazing Spider-Man 2 luring 379 683 and Spider-Man 3 grabbing 372 941 viewers, while The Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2 caught 301 172 and 299 076 viewers in their webs respectively. The English TV news bulletin pulled 315 462 viewers, slightly up from December's 289 308.
DStv's Big Brother: Titans and Gqeberha: The Empire flop
On the red letter channel its top show Scandal! ebbed slightly from 4.01 to 3.9 million viewers, while House of Zwide in second place held steady at 3.2 million from December's 3.12 million viewers, as did Imbewu in third place with 2.158 million viewers compared to December's 2.13 million.
The Black Door was slightly down from 1.85 to 1.73 million viewers in January, and Durban Gen was 1.63 to 1.53 million viewers.
e.tv's 20:00 TV news bulletin went from 1.54 to 1.46 million viewers, while the Leon Schuster-fronted film Mr Bones was the channel's most-watched film for the month, grabbing 1.79 million viewers.
On pay-TV, MultiChoice's DStv continues to suffer declining ratings with its most-watched show Gomora on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) down from 912 173 to 783 149 DStv subscribers who tuned in during January.
The telenovela Gqeberha: The Empire which premiered on 16 January during Stage 6 loadshedding had a disappointing 413 227 viewers at most during January.
The latest Big Brother season with housemates from Nigeria and South Africa, Big Brother: Titans which also made its debut during Stage 6 loadshedding has also been a ratings dud, not rating well despite being shown on the Mzansi Magic, Mzansi Wethu and its own dedicated DStv pop-up channel.
The third season of Big Brother Mzansi a year ago in January 2022 still had a lowly 529 041 viewers but with little promotion and barely any PR support Big Brother: Titans has less than 330 000 viewers and couldn't even rate on the list as one of DStv's 30 most-watched shows during January.
Isencane Lengane on Moja Love (DStv 157) drew 625 293 viewers in January while the channel's Uyajola 9/9 was down from December's 670 983 to 621 234 viewers.
The Queen was down from 620 601 to 608 313 viewers. Diep City lost 30 000 viewers on Mzansi Magic, going from 553 799 to 523 354 viewers.
X-Repo on Moja Love dropped from 518 780 to 497432 viewers.
