by Thinus Ferreira
After the SABC's shocking cancellation of 7de Laan which will end with its 24th season on SABC2 on 26 December, can rivals e.tv or M-Net's kykNET (DStv 144) save the show?
The short answer to the question is no, the longer answer is: "It's complicated". But 7de Laan's most-famous faces are not lost and will remain on TV - just not where and like you've seen them until now.
Let's take a deeper dive into why Hillside is very likely over the hill permanently and why neither e.tv nor kykNET can - or is willing to - pick up and take over production and broadcast of 7de Laan.
Here's what e.tv and kykNET might do and how they're going to pivot and gain audience share from the SABC's unforced error.
Can e.tv save 7de Laan?
eMedia spokesperson Bennum van Jaarsveld didn't respond to a media query last week asking if e.tv is able to take over 7de Laan, or, if it has this ability, if it indeed is something e.tv might consider.
Also, is the development and broadcast of a locally-produced Afrikaans-based TV soap at 18:00 something that e.tv might now consider - given that it's already dubbing Turkish telenovelas into Afrikaans to compete with 7de Laan?
e.tv is unlikely to be able to take over 7de Laan which is produced by Danie Odendaal Productions.
Interestingly, e.tv soaps like Scandal! are produced alongside 7de Laan within the same Sasani Studios (owned by eMedia) complex in Johannesburg.
e.tv already has an Afrikaans dubbed Turkish soap and timeslot at 17:00 - currently Roekelose Dade - with the half-hour timeslot at 18:00 which has mostly become filler over the last few years precisely because 7de Laan was on.
Something like the disappointing uBettina Wethu that doesn't rate well in the 18:00 timeslot is mostly filler - e.tv just has to schedule something there as counterprogramming until Nikiwe does better at 18:30.
But now with 7de Laan vacating the 18:00 timeslot on SABC2 - with the SABC literally "giving" the timeslot away or in a sense opening it up - it wouldn't at all be surprising if e.tv jumps at the chance.
Channel execs at e.tv could go one of two ways: Quickly develop a new Afrikaans-infused TV soap ready for air by January 2024 for 18:00. This will give audiences flicking the remote controls and discovering 7de Laan is gone but looking for an Afrikaans story, the opportunity to find a new South African story in Afrikaans on e.tv once Oppiekoffie has shut its doors.
Or: e.tv could move its Turkish telenovela timeslot later, to 17:30 or 18:00 and schedule and programming its Afrikaans-dubbed telenovela(s) there, or slot in a new one in the 18:00 timeslot.
Although it won't be locally produced, even a Turkish telenovela now at 18:00 on e.tv will see higher ratings in the absence of 7de Laan, stealing free-to-air viewers away from SABC2 where former 7de Laan viewers will now be looking for a new home to park their TV watching at six o'clock in the evening.
7de Laan's 1.91 million viewers during the timeslot which made it SABC2's second most-watched show on the channel is a prize and viewers that e.tv would not say no to.
Conclusion: e.tv is very likely not in a position to save 7de Laan specifically but will very likely make hay by programming its 18:00 timeslot with "something" Afrikaans to lure and keep the disgruntled Afrikaans viewers of SABC2, who will go looking for something else similar and new to watch during the timeslot.
Even if e.tv can win over just a fraction of the 1.2 million viewers 7de Laan pulled it will improve the audience rating of e.tv's 18:00 timeslot with not a lot of effort required to create some programming favourable to these viewers.
With the demise of 7de Laan, e.tv has the most to gain from the SABC's decision to no longer have 7de Laan in this timeslot and programming something there.
Can kykNET save 7de Laan?
The truth is that kykNET is actually what we call over-subscribed when it comes to Afrikaans TV soaps and telenovelas - it already has Suidooster (at 18:00), Diepe Waters (at 18:30), Binnelanders (at 19:30) and Arendsvlei on kykNET & Kie (DStv 145) at 19:30.
Can it really take over 7de Laan - but more importantly: Does it even want to when the TV cupboard is fully stocked?
When asked last week if kykNET has the ability to, and if it has the ability, want to take over 7de Laan, a channel spokesperson said kykNET has no comment on the matter although it's aware of what SABC2 is letting go of.
When 7de Laan ends - since it's happened before - a portion of those free-to-air viewers might very well bite the bullet and transform into pay-TV viewers by subscribing to DStv.
When the SABC cancels or loses popular programming - for instance sports or now 7de Laan - a portion of public broadcaster viewers go: "The SABC is no longer offering what I watched, or I feel I must keep watching, I will now begrudgingly pay for DStv".
Thus, over the short term, expect a small ratings bump for Suidooster at 18:00 on kykNET from January 2024.
Those will be former 7de Laan viewers switching from free on SABC2 to DStv and continuing to watch in that timeslot because they want to watch something Afrikaans during that habitual TV viewing timeslot they've become accustomed to and organise their evening household routine around.
Is kykNET able to take over 7de Laan? It's more tricky. kykNET certainly has the ability and financial means to, but it might very well be barred from doing so if the Danie Odendaal Productions concept of 7de Laan belong to the SABC.
What does this mean?
In simple terms and without making the explanation too complicated, some shows "belong" to the SABC outright - they created the idea and commissioned it, some shows were taken to the SABC by producers but remain the property of the producers (the SABC shows it but doesn't own the intellectual property or IP), and some shows were taken to the SABC who then in the contract say they buy the IP as well.
There is a reason that no other broadcaster or TV channel picked up and continued with Top Billing after the SABC cancelled it on SABC3 - even though they want to.
While the Top Billing brand name and show concept have a lot of brand value and name recognition and most certainly would do well as a reimagined show with the same slick production values and content on for instance a M-Net (DStv 101) channel, M-Net or e.tv or NBCUniversal's E! Africa (DStv 124) can't take it over or start a show called Top Billing that looks like what Top Billing looked.
The SABC commissioned the show and owns the show (concept and IP) - it just doesn't want to do anything with it anymore. The result is that nobody else can touch it.
The same very likely goes for 7de Laan: Even if kykNET is interested in it and in taking it over from SABC2, it might effectively be barred from doing so since 7de Laan is "owned" by the SABC.
What kykNET soaps will do with 100% certainty, is pick up several of the 7de Laan actors and crew who will start to pop up before long in the end-credit rolls and as on-screen talent in Suidooster, Binnelanders and Diepe Waters which is what has happened before and will again after the demise of other Afrikaans TV soaps or the exits of actors.
Hilda and her scarves for instance got transformed after the character's exit from 7de Laan, as Kate for Suidooster on kykNET. Look for several of these TV transformations to take place as the actors find new work (on kykNET shows).
Conclusion: Just like e.tv, kykNET will definitely keep a keen eye on the 18:00 timeslot. It's however already in a "better" position, since it already has Suidooster there for DStv subscribers looking for Afrikaans soap content, in that timeslot.
kykNET has less to gain than e.tv by making changes at 18:00 but might still play out programming scenarios and move around some TV pieces of its line-up puzzle. Even if kykNET could save 7de Laan and is "allowed" to, is doesn't really have an incentive to do so.
7de Laan actors will start to show up as new characters in various kykNET shows on pay-TV.
