by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's e.tv has started going down the downright awful channel, pushing out nebulous ratings and viewership data, possibly hoping that somewhere, someone republished fuzzy press releases.
Just like what MultiChoice's Showmax tried to do several times, as well as Canal+'s SuperSport a few times, e.tv decided to issue viewership claims for some TV soap wedding it showed (besides some or other PR event it had in September in Johannesburg to try and promote it ,and couldn't bother to tell media about).
There was a time when TV soap weddings in primetime was a thing, but it feels as if South African linear broadcast viewers have mostly moved past that.
Yet e.tv had a white wedding recently for its telenovela The Four of Us, that started in June, and then tried to garner some hay, touting ratings. The problem is, e.tv didn't want to give any actual ratings.
In some breathless bulk mailer e.tv enthused that the "standout episode of The Four of Us delivered strong audience growth on television, while e.tv's social media platforms generated 73.4 million organic views, achieved a total reach of 57.7 million, delivered 2.9 engagements and recorded 25 million video views".
Huh?
What matters is linear TV ratings. That's what advertisers and ad-buying agencies book spots on, and that determines their strategies. Not "engagements" on social.
So what were e.tv's "ratings"? The channel said the wedding "delivered a 10.5% increase in audience performance week-on-week" and the Friday 11 September episode "delivered a 52.6% increase in audience performance compared to the previous Friday, making it the standout moment of the campaign".
So, something increased by 10.5% - from what, to what? Something else increased by 52% - again, from what to what?
Add in a senseless, say-nothing, prepared quote from Dithapelo Segodi Mthombeni, eMedia executive producer who noted that the wedding "shows the enduring power of local
storytelling".
"Audiences connected with the story on
television, followed the conversation across digital platforms
and continued engaging beyond the broadcast. When content
resonates, audiences will follow it wherever they are."
Hopefully it doesn't become some new norm that broadcasters issue these kinds of very lame, cherry-picking and nebulous "increased by so many percent" announcements, that help nobody, least of all the local TV industry and viewers who deserve more from an e.tv ratings press release than just percentages.
Since the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) stopped publicly publishing transparent monthly raw TV viewership tallies, broadcasters like e.tv possibly think they can come up with percentages and audience shares, without the need to supply detailed and precise actual numbers.
I made the effort to reach out and asked e.tv publicist Tshegofatso Kolotse on the day that e.tv sent out the mass mailer, to hear about the 10.5% increase: It is from what to what rating? The 52%.6% increase is from what to what performance number?
That was 18 September. More than two weeks later ... still waiting for any response or acknowledgement from e.tv to a basic media query.