TV RATINGS October 2022: e.tv's Scandal! keeps gunning for SABC1's Generations; WINNERS: SABC2's Morning Live, Moja Love's X-Repo, e.tv with Vin Diesel LOSERS: Mzansi Magic's Idols, SABC3's The Estate, SABC2's Muvhango.

by Thinus Ferreira

South Africa's prime-time ratings race has become a fierce two-horse competition between SABC1 and e.tv, with viewers kicking off their nightly viewing starting with e.tv's House of Zwide on e.tv at 19:00 followed by Scandal! at 19:30, then flipping the channel to SABC1's Generations at 20:00 and Uzalo at 20:30.

With prime-time ratings that steadily keep climbing, eMedia's e.tv free-to-air TV channel now has the second and fourth most-watched TV shows on South African television, with Scandal! in second place and 5 114  755 viewers in October - just 770 805 viewers away from Uzalo's 5 885 560 viewers in October as SABC1 and the country's most-watched TV programme.

Generations on SABC1 comes in third place with 4 643 191 viewers in October, but with just over 300 000 viewers difference, e.tv in fourth position with House of Zwide and its audience of 4 312 744, is now clearly gunning and trying to overtake Generations.

The TV share - the percentage of total TV sets switched on at any given moment and tuned to a specific TV channel - tells a remarkable story of how South African viewers are channel-flipping between SABC1 and e.tv to curate their own linear broadcast nightly viewing experience.

Between 19:00 and 20:00 more than 40% of all TV sets are switched to e.tv in South Africa, surging to 45% for Scandal!. Viewers then switch to SABC1 at 20:00 for the next hour to watch Generations and Uzalo, with the TV share of 43% climbing to 57% by 21:00.

Nothing else on South African television comes close to these four TV shows from SABC1 and e.tv in terms of ratings and audience share.

Zulu and Xhosa TV news shine

Skeem Saam on SABC1 lost viewers in October, luring 3.94 million, down from September's 4.17 million. While still commanding massive audiences, the Zulu TV news (down from 2.45 to 2.3 million) and the Xhosa TV news (down from 2.73 to 2.19 million) remain the two most watched TV news bulletins on South African television.

Illustrating the massive ongoing viewership decline problem that SABC2 has is that the Muvhango repeat at 08:30 in the mornings on SABC1 lures more viewers than original first-run episodes during prime time on SABC2. 

Muvhango on SABC1 grabbed 1.99 million viewers in the morning, compared to a depressing 1.579 million at 21:30 on SABC2 during prime time in October as SABC2's most-watched, but fading show.

Fooled by Love dropped from 1.879 to 1.621 million viewers in October, while The Executives fell from 1.621 to 1.588 million viewers.

Morning Live punching above its weight

The haemorrhage of SABC2's ratings continues with only Muvhango managing more than a million viewers and 10 out of the channel's top 20 shows now unable to draw more than half a million viewers.

The Afrikaans TV soap 7de Laan remained the second-most watched show on the channel during October, improving slightly from 859 016 to 908 895 viewers. Kgatelopele improved slightly from 725 658 to 771 078 viewers. The Afrikaans TV news bulletin was down from 631 325 viewers to 611 606 in October.

Morning Live remains a shining star for SABC2 - punching far above its weight in its early morning timeslot and further increasing its viewership by 94 683 in October from an already phenomenal 475 519 viewers in September to 570 202 viewers (16.5 share) in October. 

The Setswana TV news bulletin improved from 521 677 to 532 032 viewers in October while president Cyril Ramaphosa's live presidential address on 23 October had 449 769 viewers tuning in. Close to the same number - 443  929 watched an umpteenth repeat of Murder She Wrote in its 14:00-timeslot in the afternoons.

SABC3's The Estate more watched on repeat

The Premier League match between Manchester City and Southampton on 8 October was the top-scorer on SABC3 with 608 491 viewers, followed by Tropika Island of Treasure with 547 990 viewers and Katlego Maboe suddenly substituted as host.

The film Rise of the Planet of the Apes was third with 546 037 viewers, followed by the English TV news bulletin at 18:00 with 509 394 viewers. 

Viewers don't watch the ratings-challenged The Estate from Clive Morris Productions in prime time on SABC3, rather watching the 11:00 repeat in the mornings with 457 703 viewers and the Saturday omnibus that lured 445 046 viewers.

The American talk show The View had 296 121 viewers, drama series Tropical Heat had 288 162, and news show On Point lured 286 416 viewers.

Vin Diesel xxxx-cellent for e.tv

On e.tv Imbewu dropped from 2.67 to 2.25 million viewers, the cancelled Durban Gen remained even from 2.56 to 2.59 million viewers, while The Black Door shed over half a million viewers, plunging from 2.5 to 1.99 million viewers.

The e.tv news at 20:00 lost audience from 1.9 to 1.6 million viewers in October.

South African viewers are "weird" when it comes to watching e.tv movies - they will watch them again and again. 

On Saturday 15 October XXX: The Return of Xander Cage drew a strong 1.64 million viewers to the 20:00-timeslot. 

You think that's it - until e.tv also slotted a repeat for the next day, with Vin Diesel again drawing another jaw-dropping 1.3 million further viewers at 14:30 with little audience drop-off. It means the film lured close to 3 million viewers for e.tv with two combined airings.

Moja Love's X-Repo surges 

On DStv in October Mzansi Magic's (DStv 166) Gomora remained atop the ratings pecking order although MultiChoice again had a month dipping below a  million DStv subscribers, going from 1 014 085 viewers in September to 997 735 in October.

Moja Love's (DStv 157) Sunday night tabloid series Uyajola 9/9 gathered viewers, growing from 876 201 to 924 859 viewers in October. 

The Queen remained flat from 661 478 to 659 211 viewers, while Idols improved somewhat for its Top 7 contestants show from 542 049 to a still-low 686 199 DStv subscribers watching on 2 October.

The River on Mzansi Magic went from 608 277 to 564 451 viewers in October, while X-Repo on Moja Love surged from 492 333 to 647 213 viewers, becoming the 6th most-watched show on DStv in the month. 

The Real Housewives of Cape Town on Mzansi Magic picked up some viewers, improving from 396 719 to 531 981 in October.

TV RATINGS July 2022: New seasons of M-Net's Survivor SA, SABC3's The Estate and Mzansi Magic's Idols see fewer viewers sticking around.

by Thinus Ferreira 

The returning new seasons of The Estate on SABC3, Idols on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161), as well as Survivor South Africa on M-Net (DStv 101) all drew even fewer viewers during July, making these shows the TV ratings losers of the month, while SABC2's tired Muvhango also continued to sag as the Venda primetime soap kept shedding audience for yet another month.

Absence didn't make South African viewers' TV hearts grow fonder with the Clive Morris Productions telenovela on SABC3 that came back for a third season in July after a 3-month break with even fewer viewers coming back to The Estate than its already-low ratings of before.

The Estate wasn't anywhere to be seen in the list of S3's top 20 shows for the month, which still pulled a very low 340 269 viewers to its early primetime slot in April when the second season ended. Even The Estate's Saturday omnibus ratings sagged, plummeting from 487 769 at most in April, to 361 509 in July. 

The other big ratings loser in July has been Idols, with the [SIC] Entertainment produced reality singing competition on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) luring 743 516 viewers at most for its season 18 debut during July, almost 10 000 fewer DStv subscribers watching than the 753 367 who watched the season 17 conclusion in November last year.

A new trio of judges including the returning socialite Somizi Mhlongo has been unable to stem what is now an ongoing ratings and audience share slide for Idols, similar to what happened to American Idol.

Meanwhile, Survivor South Africa on M-Net, produced by Afrokaans and moved to an earlier timeslot and stacked with daily episodes, lost a whopping 42.8% of its viewers for the 9th season entitled Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts, compared to the beginning of June a year ago.

Only 43 306 viewers tuned in for the start of Survivor SA: Return of the Outcasts on 18 July with ratings falling further on subsequent days, compared to the 75 770 DStv subscribers who still watched the start of the previous season.

The tired Muvhango, produced by Word of Mouth Pictures, that is on a shocking viewership slide fell further in July, dragging SABC2 down further as the channel's most-watched show, from an already-low 1.885 million viewers to 1.726 million (4.46 AR / 19 share).

SABC1 showing erosion

SABC1's entire TV ratings for July is now starting to buckle and show viewership erosion as well, as the SABC's analogue terrestrial signals are switched off by the government as and Eskom electricity blackouts wiped TV households from Nielsen's people meters.

Still the biggest channel in terms of South African audience reach, Uzalo from Stained Glass TV as SABC1 and South Africa's most-watched TV show slid from 6.1 to 5.9 million viewers.

Generations - The Legacy as South Africa's third most-watched show and SABC1's second most-watched show sagged from 4.95 to 4.79 million viewers, while Skeem Saam as SABC1's third most-watched show and the country's fourth most-watched show weakened from 4.27 to 4.5 million viewers.

Both Scandal! and House of Zwide on eMedia's e.tv channel have now surpassed Generations - The Legacy and Skeem Saam in the country's cutthroat TV ratings race as South Africa's second and third most-watched television shows.

On SABC1 the Zulu TV news bulletin decreased from 2.7 to 2.4 million viewers, the Xhosa TV news decreased from 2.7 to 2.47million viewers, the Siswati/Ndebele TV news bulletin decreased from 1.9 to 1.76 million viewers, Ses Top La sagged from 1.93 to 1.62 million viewers, and Roxic fell from 2.74 to 2.43 million viewers in July.

Muvhango drags SABC2 down 

On SABC2 Muvhango was the channel's most-watched show but again with fewer viewers, slumping from 1.88 to 1.72 million viewers during its 25th anniversary.

A presidential address from Cyril Ramaphosa on 25 July lured 990 887 viewers to the 20:00-timeslot.

The Afrikaans soap from Danie Odendaal Productions, 7de Laan, decreased in July from 990 032 to 945 543 viewers, Hlala Kwabafiley plunged from 933 299 to 670 295 viewers, the Afrikaans TV news bulletin fell from 716 185 to 629 895 viewers, while Bophelo Ka Semphekgo surged from 594 424 to 710 848 viewers.

SABC2's breakfast show Morning Live remains a bright spark as the country's most watched morning show, pulling a steady 453 733 viewers. 

The umpteenth repeat of the Angela Landsbury-fronted American drama series Murder She Wrote continued its bizarre afternoon ratings buoyancy from the month before, pulling 449 326 viewers in its 14:00-timeslot in the afternoons to SABC2 with more viewers than most other shows on the channel during primetime.

Liam Neeson helps SABC3

SABC3 showed a ratings uptick in July with the channel's entire top 20 most-watched shows gaining some viewers.

Liam Neeson came to S3's rescue with Taken 3 as the most-watched content on the channel during July, lifting it to 682 739 viewers from 596 739 in June - again with the channel's Sunday night movie timeslot at 19:30 which is now its highest viewership grabber and establishing a new appointment-viewing timeslot on SABC3, similar to what M-Net has had for decades.

Eden Untamed Planet lured 650 953 viewers on 24 July to the channel, followed by the first Taken movie on 10 July with 594 911 viewers and the English TV news with 563 514 viewers. Britain's Got Talent: The Champions pulled 400 884 viewers, while viewership of the American TV talk show The View was also up from 231 647 to 247 833 viewers in July.

e.tv's House of Zwide deserves cake

You'd think there'd be a flurry of press releases as e.tv crows about ratings gains like American TV channels hype viewership wins, but the red-letter channel keeps doing better and better as it lures more viewers away who no longer want to watch the SABC or likely can't watch SABC channels anymore as their Sentech distribution tower signals are cut off.

Scandal! was the e.tv's most-watched show for July and South Africa's second most-watched show, growing from 5.15 to 5.31 million viewers. 

Crew working on House of Zwide can apply for mortgages: the show surged from 4.65 to 4.91 million viewers, as e.tv's second most-watched and South Africa's third most-watched TV show overall with a "send cake" 12.7 AR and oh-so-sweet 44 share.

Imbewu is recovering, improving from 2.52 to 2.77 million viewers, The Black Door is improving from 2.29 to 2.58 million viewers, but the BET Africa Original Isono fell from 2.3 to 1.73 million viewers.

The cancelled Durban Gen lost steam from 2.9 4 to 2.55 million viewers, e.tv's 20:00 TV news slumped from 1.9 to 1.77 million viewers and Is'phindiselo weakened from 1.84 to 1.64 million viewers.

Weak note for Idols return

The glory days of Idols on M-Net and Mzansi Magic are likely over forever following 2021's sudden ratings collapse at the start of the 18th season. 

Idols came back for season 19 in July with a disappointing 743 516 viewers in the early Sunday evening timeslot where Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) has developed ratings weakness for over a year now.

Gomora on Mzansi Magic was once again the most-watched show on DStv during July but losing around 80 000 viewers from 1 189 324 to 1 108 493. eHostela had 913 363 DStv subscribers tuning in, with Our Perfect Wedding grabbing third place on the channel's ratings line-up with 765 938 viewers and Idols following in 4th place.

The Queen from Ferguson Films weakened from 785 625 to 737 092 viewers, while The Real Housewives of Cape Town lured just over a half million DStv subscribers with 515 928 tuning in. Mamazala on Moja Love (DStv 157) dropped from 501 804 to 463 051 viewers in July.

The new Mzansi Magic reality series Short n Sweet, a rip-off of Moja Love's  Giants of the City, made its debut with 592 320 viewers. 

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). 

South African television ratings in 2021: The winners and losers.

by Thinus Ferreira

We again saw a lot this year, and in 2021 a lot of that was on television, with millions of South Africans watching the same thing, at the same time, where linear TV broadcasting still triumphs over streaming services that are growing but from a very small base.

Given the impact of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa, as well as the public unrest and looting that took place in the country, 2021's biggest TV ratings winner was undoubtedly television news.

The TV swansong of veteran anchor Noxolo Grootboom on the night of 30 March drew a huge audience of 3.82 million to SABC1 for her final SABC News isiXhosa TV news bulletin at 19:00 on South African television.

The 3 823 686 viewers who tuned in represented a 33 share, meaning that 1 out of every 3 TV sets that were switched on during the timeslot, were tuned to watch her.

Although not entertainment content, every single televised presidential address and "family meeting" of president Cyril Ramaphosa in 2021 - from Covid lockdown announcements to speaking about the public looting and unrest in South Africa and his State of the Nation address - drew millions of viewers combined for each broadcast, as viewers watched him speak live on SABC, e.tv and the three TV news channels of eNCA (DStv 403), SABC News (DStv 404), and Newzroom Afrika (DStv 405).

Such was the huge and successful ratings that if Cyril Ramaphosa's speeches were a TV show it would definitely have been renewed for another season in 2022. 

In just July for instance, president Cyril Ramaphosa's televised address to the nation to announce that South Africa is moving to an adjusted Level 3 lockdown on 25 July propelled his speech to the most-watched "show" on SABC2 for the month.

It was also the 4th most-watched on all of South African television with 5.84 million viewers (15.09 AR / 44.8 share) who tuned in.

Just a few weeks earlier, millions of viewers were once again glued to SABC2 when Cyril Ramaphosa spoke on 12 July to address the public violence with 3.7 million viewers (9.57 AR / 28.4 share), and again when he made a speech on 16 July about the looting that drew 4.17 million viewers (10.78 AR / 32.4 share).

Add another 1.7 million viewers who watched president Cyril Ramaphosa and his speech on 12 July on e.tv, and another 3.19 million who watched his speech on e.tv on 11 July.

Public unrest lifts news ratings

Anxiety and fear around Covid and public unrest in South Africa lifted TV news ratings on South African television to new records - millions of viewers tuned to television to find out what was going on.

Combined, the Zulu TV news bulletin on SABC1 in 2021 remained the single most-watched piece of TV news content on all of South African television this year and kept surging in the ratings race as it added millions of viewers.

The Zulu TV news on SABC1 climbed to an astounding 4.6 million viewers (12.11 AR / 36.4 share) viewers in July as the 5th most-watched programme on South African television for the month with the 12 July broadcast recording the most viewers.

This was followed by the Xhosa TV news bulletin on SABC1 on 13 July with 4.49 million viewers (11.62 AR / 35.2 share) as the 6th most-watched programme on TV for the month. 

In this month, the Setswana TV news bulletin on SABC2 surged on 12 July to an absolutely incredible 2.6 million viewers (6.95 AR / 19.9 share) - up from 768 544 viewers in June.

The memorial service of the amaZulu King Goodwill Zwelithini in March snagged 712 222 viewers on SABC2 in March.

And good morning to all of those early risers: Despite so many challenges behind-the-scenes at the SABC, Morning Live on SABC2 in 2021 continued to pull more viewers early in the morning - in excess of 700 000 - than a lot of other TV shows get during prime time.

Newzroom excels

The unrest of 2021 lifted the 2-year old TV news channel Newzroom Afrika to higher prominence as one of the notable TV ratings winners of the year.

Newzroom Afrika dethroned eNCA for the first time this year as the most-watched TV news channel during a national crisis event during July's unrest and looting, as it experienced a surge of pay-TV viewers on Monday 12 July and pushing it to the top of TV news ratings in that month on MultiChoice's DStv.

Having poached SABC News and eNCA talent ranging from Vaylen Kirtley to Thembekile Mrototo this year, Newzfeed with Stephen Grootes on 12 July was the 22nd most-watched and highest-rated TV news show on DStv in July - the first time that Newzroom Afrika had such a ratings victory that counts as a new highwater-mark viewership success for the channel.

This was closely followed by Newzroom Afrika's Daytime Update block between 12:00 and 15:00 on the same day that lured 470 324 (1.22 AR / 6.9 share) viewers, giving the channel a second notch and bragging rights during that month's ratings ladder.

More Moja and Uzalo

The year gave e.tv reason to smile with its new primetime soap at 19:00, House of Zwide, that replaced the cancelled Rhythm City, which is a bona fide ratings success, luring in excess of 4 million viewers monthly.

On pay-TV, the tabloid content of Moja Love (DStv 157) continued to grip lower-tiered DStv subscribers during 2021 with the channel that kept rising in the ratings race, making Moja Love the biggest pay-TV channel ratings gainer in the year.

In some months Moja Love became the most-watched content on all of DStv, pushing Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) out of the top spots with its collection of sensationalist reality shows like Ujayola 9/9, Isencane Lengane, Giants of the City, Mamazala, No Excuse Pay Papgeld and Single and Mingle.

On free TV, the SABC1-trifecta of Uzalo, Generations and Skeem Saam kept the crown as the country's most-watched shows and entertainment programming with respectively around 8 million, 6.5 million and 5 million viewers.

Props to Anaconda: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid with e.tv that broadcast it for the umpteenth time in 2021 and still bit a whopping 3.5 million viewers.

Ratings losers and disappointments

The South African public broadcaster's "problem child", SABC3, became even more of a problem in 2021 as ratings keep tanking month after month all through the year even after a disastrous rebrand to "S3" that didn't do anything to stem the loss of viewers.

Over the last 5 years, SABC3 lost over 50% of its audience and shed some more in 2021.

From 1.525 million viewers that SABC3 had in January 2016 half a decade ago - already a small percentage from the channel's heydeys in the 2000s - ongoing viewership and TV rating erosion saw its viewership plummet to as low as 625 717 viewers (excluding a once-off soccer broadcast) by October.

The success of e.tv's House of Zwide pummelled S3's new soap The Estate in the same death-zone 19:00-timeslot that has been a ratings disaster for the channel - so much so that the SABC decided on repurposing-triage by putting reruns of The Estate on SABC1 during prime time as a windowing-experiment to try and funnel viewers to SABC3.

SABC3's attempt to introduce a new late afternoon talk show this year with Unpacked with Relebogile was also a dud, sliding from an already-low 340 000 viewers to just over 300 000 by August with none of the buzz that 3Talk with Noeleen and Real Talk with Anele once had.

With little exposure and buzz, South Africa's Ugly Betty-version of uBettina Wethu was a ratings disappointment in the 19:30-timeslot on SABC1, while Die Sentrum from Penguin Films that replaced the Friday episode of 7de Laan lured far less viewers and saw SABC2 end the timeslot-replacement experiment.

The shockingly sharp decline if Idols

The year's biggest ratings-shocker was M-Net and [SIC] Entertainment's long-running Idols on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) that suddenly plunged in viewership after scandal engulfed the choreographer-socialite Somizi Mhlongo who immediately exited the 17th season after serious allegations of physical abuse.

Idols started off season 17 with 1 018 607 viewers on Mzansi Magic in July as usual, as the 4th most-watched show on all of DStv for the month.

Instead of climbing and the usual ratings increase as interest would build, Idols suddenly plunged with DStv subscribers who were no longer interested in watching following the scandal as the show plunged to 10th place on DStv's most-watched list with 693 760 viewers at most in August.

It was further downhill from there for Idols with a season-low of just 683 814 viewers in October, far-off from where Idols used to rank during the live Sunday live spectacular broadcasts. So bad was the ratings that for the first time since Idols began on South African television, Mzansi Magic axed the post-finale press conference for the winner.

Once American Idol ratings started to tank in the United States it never recovered and it will be interesting to see what Idols does viewership wise in 2022 for its 18th season.

SA TV 2021: A shockwave year in television filled with loss, lockdown and an octopus that won an Oscar.

by Thinus Ferreira

During South African television's tumultuous 2021 - bearing witness to shocking unrest and looting, neverending loadshedding and an unfolding Covid-crisis - the one reassuring constant was TV soaps and telenovelas like Uzalo, with the nation's nightly collection of comforting primetime series stretching from Generations to Isono that continued to provide a sense of uninterrupted assurance and "normalcy" in a world seemingly gone mad.

In probably the worst year on record for South Africa's TV and film industry - rocked by a shockwave of thousands of permanent and temporary job losses as work evaporated, hundreds of deaths due to Covid-19, as well as countless and repeated Covid-19 production shutdowns across multiple series under Lockdown Level 4 - 2021's big unrecognised TV miracle is that the TV soap operas endured.

As the industry was upended behind-the-scenes, TV channels kept broadcasting new episodes nightly during 2021 with its escapist local mix of fantasy, conflict, weddings and scandals, that continued to enthral a combined audience of millions of viewers across Southern Africa.

In 2021, South Africans watched Squid Game on Netflix, Devilsdorp on Showmax and welcomed House of Zwide on e.tv. 

Viewers sat transfixed before eNCA, Newzroom Africa and SABC News to see former president Jacob Zuma being arrested and going to jail, and how South Africans ransacked shopping malls. 

They huddled together in front of the soft glow of their TV screens when president Cyril Ramaphosa beckoned for yet another "family meeting".

Love Island South Africa on M-Net flopped but The Bachelorette SA was more successful. The Real Housewives of Durban and Survivor South Africa: Immunity Island (forced to film in South Africa on the Eastern Cape coast) were hits. 

South Africans got their Friday episode of 7de Laan on SABC2 back (that also reached 5000 episodes). 

While kykNET's new on-air rebranding was more successful, SABC3's rebranding to "S3" saw the channel's already anaemic ratings only fall further this year while its Isidingo replacement, The Estate, failed in luring the viewers it should and likely on borrowed time. 

uBettina Wethu (South Africa's Ugly Betty-version) wasn't the success it could have been. Showmax tried Temptation Island SA as both it and Netflix added further local South African content to their catalogues.

MultiChoice's Showmax launched its first South African telenovela, The Wife, but the most expensive South African drama series yet produced, Blood Psalms, missed its October debut and was pushed to February 2022 because the department of trade, industry and competition failed to pay the millions due to the show in the country's broken film rebate scheme.

MultiChoice introduced DStv subscribers to Korean telenovelas ("K-drama") with tvN, kept losing DStv Premium subscribers, while M-Net brought pay-TV subscribers Harry and Meghan sit-down talk with Oprah.

The SABC that turned 85 completed its retrenchment plan getting rid of hundreds of workers after which the public broadcaster once again became embroiled in serious allegations of SABC News editorial interference. 

In 2021 fewer people than ever (down to 21% bothered to still pay a SABC TV Licence with plans to scrap it altogether and replace it with a new type of tax.

The SABC officially launched SABC Sport as a TV channel, while SuperSport did its best to try and bring live sports back this year and branched out into more school sports coverage.

Britbox SA and eMedia's eVOD both launched as two new video streaming services in South Africa in 2021 while ViacomCBS Networks Africa abruptly cancelled its MTV Africa Music Awards it tried to revive this year. 

The M-Net City channel changed to Me, Glow TV was removed from Openview but had to be returned after a court case, and StarSat shed more TV channels this year. 

The long-delayed completion of the switch from analogue to digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasting in South Africa was yet again postponed, with new warnings that suddenly switching off TV signals to millions of viewers who don't have set-top boxes to receive the new signals, will damage South Africa's TV ratings system.

Meanwhile worsening Eskom blackouts continued to have a debilitating impact during 2021 on TV ratings, damaging all broadcasters and advertisers with loadshedding that wiped millions of TV households from the national viewership data.

Moja Love (DStv 157) - which had to suspend Jub Jub on Uyajola 9/9 as its most-watched show after rape allegations - and Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) were the two most-watched pay-TV channels in South Africa in 2021. 

SABC1 remained the most-watched free-to-air TV channel. More South African TV news reporters were attacked and robbed this year than ever before.

South African viewers lost FOX after 11 years, The Bold and the Beautiful (again) and weather presenters on eNCA and eNuus. The ratings for the 17th season of Idols on Mzansi Magic plunged as Somizi Mhlongo exited as a judge after serious allegations of physical abuse.

We lost Africa's most influential woman in television, MultiChoice's content boss Aletta Alberts, to Covid, as well as producer-actor Shona Ferguson in July, and an unending TV treasure chest list of names gone too soon who have enriched and who were deeply woven into the tapestry of South Africa's TV industry. 

We lost icons from Franz Marx to Shaleen Surtie-Richards, with calls that more must be done to support and protect South African artists and performers while the South African government for another year refused to make the Performers' Protection Amendment Bill (PPAB) a law that would ensure that actors are paid residuals for TV rebroadcasts.

We said goodbye to LIVE AMP on SABC1 after 25 seasons, as well as the beloved TV news anchor Noxolo Grootboom who read her final TV news bulletin with even Cyril Ramaphosa moving his national address out of the way so that the nation could watch her swansong first. 

Jeremy Maggs, Jane Dutton and Uveka Rangappa left eNCA with no goodbye. 

South Africa's TV and film industry and film lost at least 18 669 jobs (59%) over the past year due to Covid. 

And in-between the tumult, a little film on TV about a friendly South African octopus won an Oscar.

After M-Net axed Legacy SABC3’s The Estate and BET Africa’s Isono are likely also on the TV chopping block for cancellation.

by Thinus Ferreira

South African television primetime could likely claim two more TV victims with the cancellation of the telenovela Legacy on M-Net (DStv 101) at 19:00 after two seasons that might very well be followed by the axing of two other local weekday telenovelas, The Estate on SABC3 at 19:00 and Isono on BET (DStv 129) at 21:30.

Both The Estate on SABC3 getting a months-old rebroadcast on SABC1 to try and lure more viewers, as well as Isono on BET, have co-incidentally been produced by the same production company, Clive Morris Productions, and neither have yet been renewed for a second season.

The SABC didn't respond to multiple media queries made over the past week about The Estate and why it hasn't been renewed yet. 

Ratings kept falling for The Estate in the tough timeslot reaching only a measley 286 902 viewers during primetime at most on SABC3 during October in the 19:00 timeslot. On SABC1 older episodes of The Estate as part of a repurposed rerun averaged 2.3 million viewers in October.

The Estate that was never a viewership success for SABC3 plunged further in the ratings race and suffered further damage after e.tv launched its House of Zwide earlier this year in the same competitive timeslot.

At a recent red carpet wrap party for Isono neither Clive Morris Productions nor ViacomCBS Networks Africa wanted to say a word about a second season that had also finished production on the first season.

Asked if Isono is cancelled as BET's first locally-produced telenovela, Monde Twala, senior vice president and general manager for ViacomCBS Networks Africa didn't give a specific answer but said "BET Africa remains committed to make significant investment into the local production industry, the launch of our first star-studded daily drama format Isono has been popular with viewers across the continent".

"Africans are among the most devoted and enthusiastic viewers of daily novelas and we are honoured to be a part of this long tradition of true local storytelling."

"We continue to focus on providing audiences with jam-packed locally-brewed content, celebrating black culture and authentic storytelling."

"There will be a number of game-changing announcements for the channel as we get into the new year and we encourage our viewers to keep tuned in for the latest in upcoming local content."

ALSO READ: Clive Morris Productions of ViacomCBS Networks Africa's Isono telenovela on BET Africa reveals 'exceptionally huge challenges' that the Covid-19 pandemic and shutdown caused.

e.tv brings viewers a South African type of The Bold and the Beautiful with new fashion world-set House of Zwide that replaces Rhythm City as primetime soap from 19 July.

by Thinus Ferreira

e.tv is replacing its cancelled primetime soap Rhythm City with a type of South African The Bold and the Beautiful, with House of Zwide that will start on Monday 19 July and revolve around a "fashionable" Johannesburg family and the high-drama and ruthless ambition that marks the cut-throat fashion industry.

Just like the Forresters of Forrester Fashions in Los Angeles, the Zwide family in Johannesburg and their rivals are in constant competition and would rather be caught dead than being out of fashion.

Produced by Bomb Productions and VideoVision Entertainment, House of Zwide replaces Rhythm City that recently filmed its final scenes. e.tv has not yet announced any new casting for House of Zwide.

"The show could not have come at a better time," says Helga Palmer, e.tv's head of local productions.

"e.tv brings you a show of hopes and dreams to uplift and inspire viewers to believe they can achieve anything they put their minds to, in a world filled with uncertainty and despair. As Bomb Productions and VideoVision Entertainment are well-known for authentic storytelling, it will come as no surprise when the show takes South Africa by storm," Helga Palmer says.

Anant Singh, VideoVision Entertainment CEO, says "House of Zwide tells a thrilling rags-to-riches story set in the glamorous world of fashion".

"It is a timely, aspirational tale with many twists and turns that we believe will keep viewers glued to their television screens. We are excited to be partnering with Bomb Productions on this production which also marks our second series with e.tv."

Desiree Markgraaff, Bomb Productions executive producer, says "We acknowledge and are humbled to be following in the footsteps of Rhythm City which has blazed a trail in this time slot".

"We are very excited to be creating a new show for e.tv and hope viewers will welcome House Of Zwide. Covid-19 has been hard on everyone and we wanted to tell a story that reminds us that no matter the obstacles, we must never give up on our dreams."