by Thinus Ferreira
The biggest pay-TV channel in terms of viewership on DStv's most expensive premium package - the subscribers most sought-after by Canal+'s MultiChoice - is the Afrikaans kykNET channel, after MultiChoice executives years ago correctly predicted that the South African public broadcaster would dump Afrikaans content after 1994.
MultiChoice and M-Net deliberately started kykNET (DStv 144) from scratch in 1999 and then invested millions of rands into the creation of original Afrikaans content across various genres, predicting that the SABC would marginalise its output of Afrikaans TV content - which is exactly what happened.
The SABC's loss and steady alienation of Afrikaans viewers due to its ongoing erosion and loss of Afrikaans programming, led these viewers to migrate to DStv, where kykNET has since been the biggest single commercial beneficiary of premium subscribers.
kykNET has not only managed to capture a massive Afrikaans audience on pay-TV but also attracts English viewers who seek out local South African drama series and decide to watch kykNET because of the English subtitles.
Waldimar Pelser, M-Net director for premium channels, says "the bulk of kykNET's viewers are in the premium bouquet".
"The opportunity that was identified years ago with the launch of kykNET, 26 years ago, was the anticipation that South Africa's public broadcaster was not going to - and now I have to be very diplomatic - prioritise Afrikaans content in the years after 1994."
"That's exactly what happened. If you now look at what's available on the SABC, there's one soap in Afrikaans on the SABC. That's all there is. And there's the news. It's not a full offering to reflect Afrikaans viewers' world."
"kykNET started with no budget, no programmes. It started very, very small and today kykNET is the biggest channel on Premium. I think it's because it does something for people that's really important to them," he says.
"We can see ourselves on screen. We can see the themes and issues which are important to us, reflected on screen. It ranges from current affairs to documentaries and or course, very important, drama series."
He says "it's very interesting to see how many English viewers come to kykNET because very little English drama is produced in South Africa with the South African English audience in mind".
"If you look at some of the very good drama series that were produced for M-Net over the last couple of years, they were mostly international co-productions with a South African and overseas audience in mind."
"The kykNET content is truly local content, really made for South Africans. So a lot of English viewers, because there are English subtitles, come aboard and say 'Here is where we can find authentic South African stories - on kykNET - and we welcome that."
