M-Net cancels Seriti Films' Gomora telenovela on Mzansi Magic after ratings slide, shortened 4th season will see characters 'spiral out of control' after exit of actors Siphesihle Ndaba and Katlego Danke.

by Thinus Ferreira

M-Net has cancelled the Gomora telenovela on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) following an ongoing decrease in DStv subscribers watching the Seriti Films produced show, with a shortened fourth season which will be its last without stars Siphesihle Ndaba and Katlego Danke.

M-Net confirms that it has pulled the plug on Gomora which will now end after a shortened fourth season that will start on 24 April and end on 20 October 2023. 

M-Net says it is "committed to finding a suitable alternative to Gomora which will be announced in due course".

M-Net notes in a statement that it "maintains a fruitful working relationship with Seriti Films" but that it has to "be responsive to their changing needs and preferences" - very likely a reference to the sliding TV ratings of Gomora which is far off from the number of DStv subscribers who tuned in when it made its debut on 30 March 2020.

Shirley Adonisi, M-Net director of local entertainment channels, says "This means that we have to bid farewell to beloved shows like Gomora, but we are excited to bring you new, fresh and exciting content".

"It's been an incredible three years since Gomora first aired on Mzansi Magic," says Shirley Adonisi. "The show has captivated audiences across the country and we are proud to be part of its legacy. We thank the cast and crew of Gomora for their incredible work and dedication."

Leanne Khumalo, executive producer, says that "Gomora has always been a show that transcended the screen. These characters and stories will live in the hearts and homes of many people for years to come. A truly memorable show which we will look back on with a sense of fulfilment, knowing we brought light to these important stories".

"Gomora has been an incredible journey, paved with many special milestones and memories. When we started this show, we were on the brink of lockdown. The crew and cast formed a special bond during this time. Gomora grew into a family and this power dynamic was shared and experienced on screen".

According to Mzansi Magic, the exit of actors Siphesihle Ndaba and Katlego Danke who have portrayed Mazet and Thathi since the start of the series, will see the "young people of Gomora spiral out of control".

"For its fourth and final season, fans of the telenovela can expect intense action and an emotional rollercoaster of a season. The young people of Gomora spiral out of control, from self-inflicted pain, and generational pain."

"Also, this is as Sonto's (Connie Chiume) world is rocked and she grapples with her emotions post the killing. The absence of Mazet (Siphesihle Ndaba) and Thathi (Katlego Danke) turns the Molefe household upside down throughout the season and Sonto moves from one desperate act to even more dangerous decisions." 

"At the Zondo household, after surviving the accident, Sibongile (Nandipha Khubone) gave birth to her and Scara's (Wonder Ndlovu) baby. Sibongile, unsure whether she can care for her child, makes a premature decision that will have long-term consequences. But as Zodwa (Sannah Mchunu) plans her and Bongani's (Thulani Mtshweni) big day, the joyful, long overdue occasion may just be what the family needs to finally come together." 

"Meanwhile,  Nkosinathi (Fezile Makhanya) finds himself in one unfortunate financial situation after another at Zodwa and Bongani's wedding, a moment of weakness will either make or break his relationship with Gladys (Thembi Seete)."

TV RATINGS June 2022: SABC2's tired Muvhango loses half a million viewers as e.tv shines brighter.

by Thinus Ferreira

Muvhango plunged by over half a million viewers in June in South Africa's TV ratings race, while SABC2 and SABC3 continued to shed thousands of viewers as the switch-off of analogue TV signals lead to a ratings surge for e.tv, and Eskom's electricity blackouts continue to damage viewership numbers across the board.

During June South Africa and SABC1's most-watched show, Uzalo, edged upwards in its 20:30-timeslot, from 5.78 million to 6.1 million viewers. June was a good month for SABC1 with its entire Top 20 shows up in the ratings.

South Africa's second most-watched show during primetime now belongs to e.tv's Scandal!, up from 4.82 million to 5.15 million viewers at its peak in June, trouncing SABC1's Generations - The Legacy in third place, up from 4.63 million to 4.95 million viewers.

Besides snagging second place, e.tv also had South Africa's fourth most-watched show in June with House of Zwide climbing from 4.52 million to 4.65 million viewers in June, with SABC1's Skeem Saam in 5th place, slightly up from 4.13 million to 4.27 million viewers. 

The rebroadcast of the Sarafina! film on Youth Day on 16 June pulled a very strong 3.96 million viewers to e.tv as the channel's third most-watched piece of content for the month.

Troubling is that Uzalo, Scandal!, Generations - The Legacy, House of Zwide and Skeem Saam were the only five shows able to pull an audience bigger than 4 million viewers, or a bigger than 10 AR (audience rating).

Also troubling is how the public broadcaster's SABC2 and SABC3 TV channels keep eroding in the TV ratings with SABC2 which only has Muvhango left as the sole show pulling more than a million viewers during June and SABC3 taking out 596 374 viewers at most during the month.

Vernacular news sought out

On SABC1 the Zulu TV news bulletin (up from 2.52 million to 2.769 million viewers in June) surged to become the most-watched TV news in South Africa in the month, with the Xhosa TV news bulletin on the channel also up from 2.69 million to 2.763 million. The Siswati TV news bulletin also increased its viewership haul from 1.88 million to 1.91 million viewers.

Selimathunzi was marginally better, up from a solid 2.1 million to 2.23 million viewers, while Ses Top La gained viewers from 1.66 million last month to 1.93 million in June. Clover Classic Celebrations grew from 2.23 million to 2.43 million viewers.

Warning lights for SABC2

A red warning light keeps flashing for a troubled SABC2 sitting with ratings equaling what SABC3 got when that channel's viewership problems started some years ago. SABC TV bosses must be aware of the worrying trend.

The channel's Venda prime time soap Muvhango is the only programme which managed to pull over a million viewers during primetime to SABC2 during June with the channel's 20th most-watched show - a repeat of SABC1's Skeem Saam on 13 June, barely scraping together 399 844 viewers. 

The Afrikaans soap 7de Laan was down from 1 040 016 viewers in May to 990 032, although Hlala Kwabafileyo edged up from 872 793 to 933 299 viewers, as did Kwa Mamazala from 644 923 to 719 792 viewers in June. 

The latest season of the Afrikaans travelogue series Voetspore also increased from 504 055 to 569 773 viewers.

The Afrikaans TV news bulletin on SABC2 added viewers from 633 687 to 716 185 viewers, as did the Setswana TV news from 525 935 to 655 202 viewers and the Venda TV news from 435 685, increasing to 439 191.

Angela Lansbury's American drama series Murder She Wrote, on repeat at 14:00 during SABC2 daytime, drew 452 865 viewers during June. SABC2's Morning Live remains the most-watched breakfast show, slightly down to 487 763 viewers from May's 492 423.

Weekend movies help SABC3

SABC3's most-watched content in June was the Twilight movie on Sunday 12 June with 596 374 viewers, followed by an episode of the BBC's natural history series Serengeti on Sunday 19 June with 587 267 viewers.

SABC3's 18:00 English TV news bulletin grew from 437 313 viewers to 539 067 in June. Weekend movies are now what's propping up SABC3's schedule with 7 out of the channel's top 20 list being American films shown during June, and 5 natural history documentaries.

The American talk show The View drew 231 647 viewers to its 15:00-timeslot on SABC3, while local talk show Unpacked with Relebogile had 241 283 during its 17:30-timeslot.

e.tv on the up and up

e.tv keeping its analogue signal transmitters on is the channel that could smile broadest in June with a ratings surge across its Top 20 most-watched shows. Are viewers no longer able to get SABC TV channels now switching to e.tv?

Besides Scandal! and House of Zwide, the cancelled Durban Gen went from 2.82 million to 2.94 million viewers in June, with Imbewu increasing from 2.32 million to 2.522 million viewers. 

The underperforming The Black Door which is undergoing a production retooling to lessen the visual sex-factor remained flat at 2.29 million (from 2.32 million in May). Is'phindiselo on Sunday nights remained steady at 1.84 million from 1.79 million the month before, while the e.tv News at 20:00 grew slightly from1.75 million to 1.9 million viewers.

The Afrikaans dubbed, Turkish telenovela Droomverlore at 17:30 grew from 1.588 million to  1.74 million, while Paramount Africa's cancelled Isono telenovela getting a free-to-air rebroadcast on e.tv snagged 2.322 million viewers in June.

Let The River run

On MultiChoice's DStv pay-TV service Mzansi Magic's (DStv 161) Gomora and a Gomora repeat are the only two shows once again managing to pull over a million DStv subscribers in June, similar to May, with 1.189 million and 1.032 million viewers who tuned in.

The Queen held steady in third place with 785 625 DStv subscribers (May: 752 068), followed by 1Magic's (DStv 103) The River in fourth place with 683 860 viewers, with Our Perfect Wedding also maintaining its 5th place from the month before with 614 625 viewers (May: 608 597). 

Umndeni on Moja Love (DStv 157) climbed from 503 442 to 605 374 viewers in June and Diep City on Mzansi Magic also held steady at 572 881 viewers (May: 581 207). 

Actor Siyabonga Zubane (23) from Gomora on Mzansi Magic dies from suicide.

by Thinus Ferreira

Actor and dancer Siyabonga Zubane who appeared in the role of car hijacker Sdumo in the Gomora telenovela on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) has died after committing suicide. He was 23.

Siyabonga Zubane died on Saturday in his rental home in Soweto. He was originally from Alexandra, the township in which Gomora is set.

"We are saddened about the passing of Siyabonga Zubane. His debut TV role in 2017 was Bhungezi on Isibaya. Recently, he was Sdumo on Gomora. We'd like to extend our condolences to Siyabonga's family. His contribution to the TV industry will be treasured," says Shirley Adonisi, M-Net director for local entertainment channels, in a statement.

Siyabonga Zubane's aunt Nomvula told DRUM his housemates found him in bed and took him to the hospital after contacting his family.

■ If you or someone you know needs help with suicide, anxiety or depression, call the South African Depression and Anxiety Group's 24-hour helpline at 0800 456 789 or 011 234 4837 or the Whatsapp chat number 076 882 2775, the Suicide Crisis helpline at 0800 12 13 14, or Lifeline SA at 0861 322 322. 

Coronavirus: M-Net local soaps The River, Gomora and Isibaya will roll out new episodes from Monday 25 May on 1Magic and Mzansi Magic as their stream-viewing numbers on DStv Catch Up and DStv Now surge during March and April.

by Thinus Ferreira

More local South African primetime soaps that ran out of available episodes are set to return with the pay-TV drama series The River, Gomora and Isibaya that will all show new episodes on MultiChoice's DStv from this coming Monday 25 May.

All three M-Net commissioned series went off the air two weeks ago due to the weeks-long production break that saw all South Africa's TV shows shutter and studios lock their gates because of the Covid-19 national lockdown period to try and curb the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

While broadcasters and pay-TV schedulers had some stocked episodes in the kitty it wasn't enough and eventually left DStv subscribers with hastily padded schedules on 1Magic (DStv 103) and Mzansi Magic (DStv 161), while on public television SABC1's Uzalo produced by Stained Glass TV also ran out of episodes.

All of these and the country's other locally-produced soaps on the SABC, e.tv and DStv have since returned to studio lots for filming but Uzalo done from Durban will only broadcast new episodes from 15 June on SABC1.

M-Net's general entertainment division told TVwithThinus on Tuesday that The River, produced by Tshedza Pictures will be back with new episodes from Monday 25 May on M-Net's 1Magic channel.

Isibaya, produced by The Bomb Shelter and Gomora, produced by Seriti Films, which are both shown on M-Net's Mzansi Magic channel, will also be back with new episodes from 25 May, said publicist Gaaratwe Mokhethi.


Stream-viewing surge on DStv Catch Up and DStv Now
All of the shows - Uzalo, Gomora, The River and Isibaya - along with multiple others have seen their TV ratings surge in March and April in record viewership increases across the board for the SABC, e.tv and DStv as viewers stuck at home and with an end to Eskom loadshedding have flocked to their screens.

Besides just linear TV ratings these series have also showed remarkable growth in delayed viewing done through DStv decoders and stream viewing through MultiChoice's DStv Now video-on-demand service.

In March the top 5 DStv Catch Up shows watched as delayed viewing through DStv decoders had Mzansi Magic taking the top 4 spots with local content with The Queen at number one with 512 000 average views, Isibaya with 458 000 average views, Mnakwethu with 448 000 average views, Kwa Mam'Mkhize with 415 000 average views and the American procedural drama series 9-1-1 on M-Net (DStv 101) in the 5th place with 340 000 average views.

In April this surged with The Queen climbing to 526 000 average views in delayed viewing on DStv Catch Up through DStv decoders, Gomora rushing to second place with 478 000 average views, Madam & Mercy jumping to the 3rd spot with  396 000 average views, Lockdown in 4th place with 370 000 average views, and Mnakwethu at 364 000 average views.

Meanwhile M-Net's second season of The Bachelor South Africa with Marc Buchner, produced by Rapid Blue has been punching far above its weight.

Although on the top bouquet tier of DStv Premium, limiting access to the majority of DStv subscribers, The Bachelor SA was the 4th most stream-watched show on DStv Now during March with 63 000 average viewers. The others were The Queen in top position (88 000 views), followed by Isibaya (83 000 views) and Mnakwethu (62 000) all on Mzansi Magic, and The River (60 000 views) on 1Magic.

In April DStv Now stream-viewing surged as Gomora (98 000 views) climbed to first place as the most-viewed show, followed by The River (92 000 views), The Queen (80 000 views), The Bachelor (77 000 views) and Isibaya (69 000 views).

Coronavirus: The River and South African television's well of stockpiled new episodes of the most-watched prime time soaps will start to run out from Friday 24 April.

by Thinus Ferreira

The well of stockpiled television episodes of South Africa's most-watched prime time soaps will start to run dry from Friday.

Both public and pay-TV channels will begin to run out of available new episodes for the highest-rated shows in the country over the next couple of days and weeks because of the ongoing Covid-19 coronavirus national lockdown. 

With the national shutdown in effect in South Africa that has been extended by further weeks to try and curb the spread of Covid-19, the broadcaster pantry will start to run dry from tomorrow.

That will be followed over the next few days and weeks by a cascading effect of programming changes across channels as broadcasters and pay-TV services from MultiChoice to the SABC are forced to pad their schedules with different content as new pre-recorded, locally-produced shows run out of episodes.

With the country marking record TV ratings gains during day time and prime time for South African television as families - including parents and kids - remain cloistered at home, it remains to be seen whether the massive viewership surge will hold once broadcasters are forced to schedule repeats and content viewers have already seen.

On Friday 24 April the M-Net-run channel Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) will broadcast the last new episodes of Isibaya, produced by The Bomb Shelter and the new telenovela Gomora produced by Seriti TV that have both now run out of stockpiled episodes. 

M-Net schedulers are replacing these two hours on Mzansi Magic with double episodes at 19:00 of the first season of The River, produced by Tshedza Pictures, from Monday 27 April.

Both are two of the most-watched shows on pay-TV with Gomora that lured up to 1.7 million viewers in March and Isibaya 1.003 million viewers, together with The Queen from Ferguson Films that also shut down in March that was the most-watched show on DStv last month with 2.2 million viewers.

The Queen will screen the last episode of the current season at the end of the second week of May.

While first season episodes of The River is now shown on Mzansi Magic, the telenovela that is actually in its third season with first-run episodes on the other M-Net channel, 1Magic (DStv 103), is also running out of episodes. 

The River that lured 1.165 million pay-TV subscribers in March to DStv will end on 8 May, replaced by Is'thunzi, produced by Rapid Blue.

The River has also been on a hiatus and production break because of the Covid-19 lockdown with no fourth season that has been confirmed says M-Net.

The Somizi & Mohale: The Union wedding reality limited series, produced by The BarLeader, that was exclusively produced for MultiChoice's streaming service Showmax will now pad the linear TV schedule and unspool on Mzansi Magic from 27 April at 20:00.

Similar to what international broadcasters are now doing, the M-Net programming team is also working to pad the Mzansi Magic schedule with repeat blocks of popular reality shows like Date My Family and Our Perfect Wedding, both produced by Connect TV. Both series about family dates and reality weddings continue to draw huge audiences.

On 1 May the Real Housewives of Johannesburg, produced by RHOSA Productions, will start on Mzansi Magic for 14 episodes until 20 May with season 1 of Madam & Mercy taking over after that. 

"As M-Net local entertainment channels, we pride ourselves on our authentic local content and this lockdown period provides us with the perfect opportunity to share this. Viewers now have time to catch up on their favourite shows and we are excited to keep them entertained with a double dose of a drama series that has received recognition on the global stage," says Nomsa Philiso, director of M-Net local entertainment channels.

"M-Net continues to enjoy healthy relations with our content suppliers and we are all working together to ensure that our customers don't miss out on a single moment of excellent entertainment, even when production has to take a break."

"With these changes to our line-up and a host of award-winning shows, viewers can still enjoy a riveting line-up of great entertainment to make staying at home more bearable." 

SA's most-watched show out of new episodes on 8 May

On South Africa's public broadcaster, the country's most-watched prime time series, Uzalo on weekdays at 20:30 that lured over 10.29 million viewers in March will broadcast it's last new episode two weeks from now on 8 May on SABC1.

From 11 May the SABC will have to switch to repeats of old Uzalo episodes for at least a week.

The Durban-based production company Stained Glass TV remains shuttered along with others and can only resume production once the national lockdown is lifted.

"The lockdown has put production under immense 'post lockdown' pressure,' Stained Glass TV tells TViwithThinus in response to a media enquiry. 

"Pre-recorded episodes will be on-air up until 8 May, thereafter viewers should expect episode reruns while the production works determinedly to deliver more episodes per week and catch up with our delivery schedule."

"Viewers can anticipate new and exciting episodes from Monday 18 May," says the show.

This is all however contingent on production companies being allowed to open the studio doors after 30 April if the national lockdown is lifted and lifted and in heavily-affected provinces like Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape.

On e.tv the free-to-air commercial broadcaster still has enough stockpiled episodes of both of its local weekday soaps - Rhythm City, produced by Quizzical Pictures and Scandal! produced by Ochre Moving Pictures - as well as telenovela Imbewu done from KwaZulu-Natal by Grapevine Productions for now to stave off repeat broadcasts during prime time.

SABC2's 7de Laan, produced by Danie Odendaal Productions, currently has enough new half-hours stockpiled to last until 25 May.

Mmoni Seapolelo, SABC spokesperson, told TVwithThinus in response to a media enquiry that the public broadcaster has a sufficient TV soap content, will communicate when soaps run out of episodes and switch to repeats, and is in contact with production companies.

"The organisation has a sufficient soapie content offering to cover the duration of the lockdown period. The organisation has also ensured that, as part of its efforts to build resilience in its broadcasting environment, there are measures in place to ensure business continuity during this period and in the event of further extensions."

"Should future repeats of popular soaps be required, this will be communicated to the public."

"The SABC remains committed to continue to provide an essential service of broadcasting to the millions of South Africans, who rely solely on the corporation for information, education and entertainment."

TV RATINGS. The coronavirus lockdown in South Africa leads to a record TV ratings surge in March 2020.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's national shutdown period in South Africa to try and curb the spread of the Covid-19 coronavirus has given rise to record TV ratings in the country with a massive surge of millions of viewers tuning in for both news and entertainment content.

The massive increase of up to 100% in certain daytime slots and a huge swell in primetime audiences for broadcasters across the board are fuelled by a confluence of several factors that are pushing viewership to astounding TV ratings levels - including stunning co-viewing audience demographics - rarely seen in South Africa.

Overlapping moves have each created their own TV spring tide in March and April. All of these factors together are causing a King tide TV ratings bonanza for South African broadcasters and advertisers on TV.

Firstly, millions of different, constantly shifting blocks of TV households that virtually disappeared from the ratings system across the country during ongoing rolling TV blackouts when TV sets went dead all came back online during March when Eskom suddenly halted loadshedding.

Secondly, South Africa's national shutdown period of 21-days announced by president Cyril Ramaphosa is seeing families - adults and children - bored and looking for news, information and entertainment, all cloistered at home and watching not just a lot more TV but watching television together.

Interestingly, the first term school holiday, combined with the national shutdown, are seeing millions of families shut-in at home but crucially important, not roaming about in out-of-home vacation: They're home where their auto-detect TV meters are installed and not in holiday homes or hotels that usually take them off the ratings grid, like during December holidays when viewership traditionally ebbs.

Thirdly, pay-TV services like MultiChoice have opened access to more TV channels and more TV channels on DStv to lower-tiered subscribers, making popular channels like the M-Net-packaged Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) and SuperSport 1 (DStv 201) temporarily available to a much larger potential audience. 

One unintended longterm TV impact of the national shutdown period will be the millions of South Africa viewers who are exposed to new content, who sample new shows and new channels, and in the content discovery process form new TV habits that they likely won't break as they continue to watch new soaps, series and other shows that they'll likely follow even after they're no longer cooped up at home.

MultiChoice has seen daytime audiences grow by up to 100%.

Meanwhile ratings are up for the commercial free-to-air channel e.tv, and even the TV channels of the struggling South African public broadcaster like SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 with all three seeing bump ups of literally millions of viewers for shows like TV news bulletins.

South Africa's and the SABC's most-watched TV show, Uzalo on SABC1 once again surged over the 10 million viewership mark in March with 10.2 million viewers (28.59 AR / 64.8 share), a surge of almost a million viewers from February's 9.3 million high-mark.

While runner-up Generations was slightly up from 8.027 million viewers to 8.2 million, Skeem Saam showed a massive increase from 5.9 million to a whopping 7.25 million viewers ( 20.16 AR / 53.6 share) in March.

The Xhosa TV news bulletin on SABC1 - still the most-watched TV news bulletin in South Africa - jumped an absolutely staggering 1.2 million viewers in just one month in March from 4.1 million viewers to 5.39 million viewers (15 AR).

Incredibly, the Zulu TV news bulletin (SABC1) showed an even bigger ratings surge from an even smaller number: up an astounding 1.34 million viewers from February's 3.94 million viewers to 5.28 million in March.

On SABC2 the Venda weekday primetime soap Muvhango surged from 4.6 million to 5.04 million viewers in March remaining as the channel's most-watched show, while the Afrikaans weekday soap 7de Laan climbed from 1.7 million to 2 million viewers.

Astoundingly, president Cyril Ramaphosa Covid-19 lockdown announcement about Covid-19 on 23 March on SABC2 pulled an incredible, never-before-seen record-rating of 2.89 million viewers for a Monday night - a bigger audience than the 2.75 million viewers who watched president Cyril Ramaphosa's 2020 State of the Nation address on the same channel on 13 February.

Meanwhile, president Cyril Ramaphosa's first Covid-19 speech on 15 March also lured 1.4 million South Africans to tune in, while SABC2's Tswana TV news bulletin likewise gained and showed a massive increase in viewers as it surged from 1 million to 1.75 million in March. The Afrikaans TV news bulletin climbed from 1.38 million to 1.6 million.

While the struggling SABC3 usually tops out at just under 900 000 viewers for its most-watched programme (Isidingo's series finale provided no ratings bump), this past Sunday night's scheduling of the 2011 Steven Soderberg film, Contagion, led to a shocking blockbuster ratings blow-out for the channel on 5 April.

Contagion lured a whopping 4.3 million viewers (12.1 AR). To put it in perspective: The channel hardly ever manages to get anything over a 2.4 audience rating (AR) at best.

With a 42.9 share for Contagion it means that almost one in every two TV sets that were turned on in South Africa on Sunday night, were tuned to SABC3 as word-of-mouth spread about the fictional coronavirus pandemic movie on social media and viewers made it a second screen co-viewing TV event.

On e.tv Rhythm City lifted from 3.4 million to 3.8 million viewers as the channel's third most-watched programme, with Imbewu climbing from 3.5 million to 4.14 million and Scandal! retaining its crown as the most-watched show on the channel upping its rating from 4.8 million to 5.17 million (14.36 AR / 34 share). The tune-in to e.tv News is also up, now at 1.8 million viewers. 

On pay-TV where ratings matter less than subscriber numbers M-Net and MultiChoice bosses must be smiling broadly anyway: The new series Gomora drew an astounding 1.092 million viewers to Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) for its debut episode on 30 March. It then grew to 1.7 million viewers on the next night, instantly becoming the channel's new third most-watched show.

Viewership of Mzansi Magic and The Queen as its most-watched show has likewise surged.

The Queen now commands 2.28 million viewers, up from 1.2 million - an addition of over a million viewers in just a month. Second-most watched show Our Perfect Wedding also doubled its audience from 904 223 viewers in February to an incredible 1.833 million viewers in March.

The tabloid cheaters show Uyajola 9/9 on Moja Love (DStv 157) continues to draw crowds gaining slightly in March and going from 619 130 to 636 867 viewers.

eNCA (DStv 403) remained the most-watched TV news channel in South Africa with the South Africa Tonight broadcast with Uveka Rangappa on the night of the national lockdown announcement on 23 March that pulled a massive 912 336 viewers - the biggest audience during March for any local or international TV news channel available in the country.