e.tv Winter Upfront 2013: SABC3's Isidingo on Fridays is kicking e.tv in the ratings - which is why e.tv is extending its soap Scandal! to 5 days.

e.tv explained at the free-to-air commercial broadcaster's Winter Upfront 2013 that it's soap Scandal! is getting extended to five days a week and will now also have an episode on Fridays starting from Friday 5 July at 19:30 basically because e.tv kept being hammered on Fridays in the timeslot by SABC3's soap Isidingo.

Scandal! going from four days to five days, means another scheduling change for e.tv: the music magazine show Club 808 is getting yanked from its current Friday primetime slot and is being moved to Saturdays at 19:30 from 6 July.

"e.tv as a broadcaster is constantly evolving. And as the TV landscape evolves and as our competitors evolve e.tv needs to constantly innovate as the competition change," e.tv told TV critics at its Winter Upfront 2013.

"Scandal! being just four days a week, we found our audience not coming back on Fridays since there wasn't an episode. They switched over to SABC3's Isidingo which take our viewers," explained e.tv about the decision which prompted the red letter channel to make a substantial investment to up the episode order of Scandal! and to adjust the e.tv schedule for a five day a week primetime soap at 19:30.

As yet there's no plans for a Scandal! omnibus on weekends, although viewers are also clamouring for a Scandal! omnibus on the e.tv schedule. The soap is eight years old and is produced by Ochre Media for e.tv.

"Scandal is one of our primetime soaps with an average of 3 million viewers each night," says Monde Twala, e.tv's channel head. "It is currently one of the fastest growing soaps in the country and in light of this we have undertaken to invest additional resources to continuously bring viewers more of their favourite TV production."

"Staying in line with our vision to grow our local content and to give our viewers the very best, we have decided to add an additional episode per week," says Monde Twala.

"The entire production team is thrilled that our tireless efforts in bringing a quality and relevant production to viewers has not only been embraced but is in such demand that we can extend the soap to a five day timeslot," says Ilse van Hemert, Scandal! series producer.

"The decision has been carefuly planned and viewers can anticipate new faces, new sets and more gritty drama in the forthcoming months. We have the utmost faith that our fans will not be disappointed with what we have in store," says Ilse van Hemert.

e.tv's soap Scandal! to celebrate the broadcast of its 1 500th episode next Thursday as the show charts a new creative direction.

Scandal!, e.tv's weekday soap which the free-to-air commercial broadcaster slowly nurtured to hit status with over 2 million viewers now tuning in daily, will broadcast its 1 500th episode on Thursday 15 March.

The production is also going through a transition phase behind the scenes where Loyiso Maqoma recently joined as the new Scandal! head writer with the reknowned Ilse van Hemert stepping in as the new series producer. Together they've been branstorming new creative directions for the characters the past month.

''We are creating a future for each character in Scandal! that is as real and believable as it is surprising and explosive,'' says Ilse van Hemert whose Monday to Thursday primetime soap duels in South Africa's over subscribed TV soap market against formidable competition such as SABC1's Generations, SABC2's 7de Laan and Muvhango, SABC3's Isidingo and a group of smaller soaps who all collectively grabs a sizeable chunk of the country's primetime viewership each night.

''Viewers can expect the unexpected from the likes of Shakira, Donna, Daniel, Morongwe and Tino, with some being taken to the brink of destruction and others to the pinnacle of triumph,'' she says.