by Thinus Ferreira
Tired viewers, angry at being shunted all over the time schedule of e.tv are slamming the eMedia-run free-to-air broadcaster in South Africa for yet again changing its primetime line-up and have now started an online petition to rebuke e.tv for its consistently tumultuous and erratic schedule changes.
Viewers say e.tv is chasing them away with the constant line-up changes and disrupting their viewing habits - something that e.tv executives seemingly don't understand.
Viewers are telling e.tv what the broadcaster should know and what is industry knowledge: That e.tv's unending changes, because its schedule and shows are apparently not working, and are risking alienating its viewers with the constant changes.
According to viewers, e.tv is "disrupting loyal audiences, and making it difficult for people to follow the shows they love".
They say a TV channel like e.tv should stop "continually forcing viewers to adjust to new schedules".
From Monday 2 November, e.tv is yet again altering its primetime line-up - moving shows around yet again, and yet again without any explanation to viewers or the media.
Tshegofatso Kolotse, e.tv publicist, gave no explanation as to why e.tv is once again altering its primetime schedule when the channel announced that eGagasini: Waves of Change will now move to 19:00, followed by Land of Mills & Honey that now gets the 19:30 timeslot.
From 20:00, e.tv will show The Four of Us, followed by Isitha: The Enemy at 20:30 and Emzini: A Family Legacy at 21:00.
The channel changed its schedule in January this year and then again in April. In June e.tv changed its schedule again with eGagasini that started in the cancelled House of Zwide timeslot of 19:30 and The Four of Us at 20:00.
The e.tv viewer Ntando Bangani is fed up with the multiple e.tv line-up changes and has started a petition to get e.tv to stop the "constant reshuffling of our favourite shows".
"We, the viewers, are tired of e.tv constantly reshuffling its programming schedule. It feels like every time we adjust to a new schedule and get comfortable with the changes, another reshuffle is announced," Ntando Bangani explains.
"These continuous changes are frustrating, and it has not even been a year of this seemingly endless scheduling uncertainty."
"Our main demand is simple: Keep eGagasini at 19:30! Viewers have routines. Some of us arrive home from work, prepare supper, and settle down to watch our favourite shows around this time."
"The 19:30 slot works for many of us, and moving the show disrupts the viewing habits that audiences have built."
"We understand that television schedules sometimes need adjustments, but constant changes risk confusing viewers, disrupting loyal audiences, and making it difficult for people to follow the shows they love."
"We respectfully call on e.tv's programming executives to reconsider these frequent reshuffles and provide viewers with a more stable, predictable schedule. We also ask management to listen to audience feedback before making decisions that affect loyal viewers."
"Our demand are to keep eGagasini in its 19:30 slot, to stop the endless reshuffling of television programmes, to give viewers a consistent and reliable viewing schedule, and to listen to the audience before making major programming changes."
The petition notes that "A television station should build loyalty with its audience, not continually force viewers to adjust to new schedules".
