More South Africans say they watch Showmax than Netflix, although video streaming remains tiny under consumers - 73% say they haven't watched any streaming content for the past week.

More South Africans say they're watching Showmax than rival Netflix South Africa – but by just a smidgen, although Netflix's video streaming service is more popular in the top "supergroups" of consumers, while Naspers' SVOD leads in the two middle groups.

A new survey of the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) looking at brands and services in South Africa that just released the results, surveyed 3 154 South Africans from all socio-economic levels in urban and rural South Africa between January and June this year.

South Africans said SABC1 is their most often watched TV channel, that eNCA (DStv 403) on MultiChoice’s DStv is their most often watched TV news channel, and that SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) is their most often watched sports channel.

The survey also reveals the interesting rise in the growing popularity of TV channels making inroads and carving away at the SABC’s television dominance.

While SABC1, followed by e.tv, SABC2 and SABC3 are still the biggest and most often watched channels, e.tv’s set of free-to-air channels like eMovies and eExtra are rapidly gaining traction, as is the Indian-infused Zee World (DStv 166). 

M-Net’s Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) is the TV channel that leads the charge on smartphones as the most watched channel on this type of device.

YouTube is by far the most viewed streaming service in South Africa, with more South Africans saying they're making use of Showmax often, than those indicating they're using Netflix – but by a very narrow margin. 

While 24% of users said they've used YouTube in the past week, 5% indicated that they've accessed Showmax, and 4% said they’ve accessed Netflix. 

One percent accessed other streaming services like Amazon Prime Video. A whopping 87% said they use YouTube most often, followed by 6% for Showmax, 5% for Netflix and 2% for other.

With new, segmented so-called Socio-Economic Measure (SEM) "supergroups" that have replaced the outdated Living Standards Measure (LSM) that advertisers and marketers use to target and identify South African consumers, the survey reveals that Netflix is the most preferred and used video streaming service in South Africa's three top consumer "supergroups" of 3, 4 and 5 – the wealthiest consumers.

In SEM supergroup 5, 22% of people said that they have watched Netflix in the past week. 

In SEM supergroup 4, 17% of people said they have watched Netflix in South Africa in the past week and it was 36% for supergroup 3. 

That was more than for Showmax that had 17% viewing under SEM supergroup 5 in the past week, 15% for SEM supergroup 4, and 32% for SEM supergroup 3.

Showmax however outranked Netflix in the lower end of the consumer market where Showmax is more popular than Netflix. 

In SEM supergroup 2, 30% of people said they've watched Showmax the past week (compared to 21% for Netflix), and 6% of SEM supergroup 1 respondents indicated that they've watched Showmax in the past seven days, compared to 4% for Netflix.

The survey makes clear how small video streaming services are still in South Africa, with 73% of South Africans in the survey saying they have not watched any video streaming content in the past week.

SuperSport adds its first Zulu/Setswana football magazine show, iBhola Lethu, for SuperSport 4 on DStv.

SuperSport is adding the sport pay-channels distributor's first football magazine show in Zulu and Setswana, iBhola Lethu, that will start on the SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) channel on MultiChoice's DStv satellite pay-TV platform from Monday 20 August at 19:00 as a new weekly programme.

The SuperSport commentators and presenters Phumlani Msibi and Baba Mtethwa will be the presenters of iBhola Lethu, meaning "our football".

Baba Mthethwa says iBhola Lethu won't just be covering Premier Soccer League (PSL) in South Africa news but ordinary football news and issues across South Africa and the rest of the African continent.

"We're going to tap into ordinary lives, ordinary football fans, ordinary happenings - past and present - of our football. We are going to tell African football stories, the way Africans would want to hear and see their African football stories," says Baba Mthethwa.

RATINGS MARCH 2017: As SABC ratings tank, DStv now lures more viewers than all of SABC3; meanwhile 7de Laan loses over 400 000 viewers on SABC2 in just one month.

In its ongoing viewership slide, TV ratings for the SABC has now dropped so shockingly low that some DStv shows - although available to only a much smaller audience due to it being pay-TV - now have more viewers than the most-watched show on SABC3.

Meanwhile timeslot and day changes for moved shows ranging from Zaziwa on SABC1 to 7de Laan on SABC2 has had, as expected, disastrously negative viewership consequences, plummeting in the ratings following erratic and inexplicable SABC schedule changes.

Shockingly, 7de Laan lost over 400 613 viewers in just once month as viewers fled SABC2 in March following a third timeslot change the Afrikaans soap within months. The SABC's acting chief operating officer (COO) Bessie Tugwana told parliament in February the soap was moved so that more viewers can watch it.

The erratic scheduling changes and dropping viewership is having a debilitating impact on the SABC's rate card for spot ads and the public broadcaster's advertising income.

During March, the Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) hits Isibaya and Our Perfect Wedding were watched by more South Africans than anything on the SABC's struggling SABC3 channel.

In March SABC3 continued the channel's ongoing viewership nosedive following the former controversial SABC chief operating officer (COO) Hlaudi Motsoeneng's abrupt order to introduce an expensive, but flopped, 80% local content decree in July 2016.

Isibaya grabbed 1.59 million viewers and Our Perfect Wedding 1.56 million viewers on Mzansi Magic for their most watched episodes in March, more than anything shown on SABC3 where Isidingo was the most watched show with 1.33 million viewers.


SABC1

On SABC1 the once hugely popular talk show Zaziwa that used to lure 3,5 million has dropped more than a million viewers with its misguided and abrupt move from Thursdays to Sundays since February.

Zaziwa went from once of the most watched shows to not even featuring in SABC1's monthly top 20 most watched shows list.

Good news is that all three of SABC1's top shows edged somewhat higher with Uzalo, still in first place (8.52 million, 69.2 share), Generations The Legacy (8.43 million, 68.8 share), and Skeem Saam (6.3 million, 60.8 share) all gained a few viewers from their February tallies of 8.4 million, 7.89 million and 6.1 million viewers.

That's however where the good news ends. Only marginally up in March on SABC1 were the Zulu news (4.3 million viewers) from 4.06 million, the Xhosa news (4.12 to 4.18 million viewers), Ses' Top La from 3.9 to 4.03 million viewers, and the perennial Khumbul'Ekhaya from 2.72 to 2.74 million viewers.

Selimathunzi dropped from 3.58 to 3.45 million viewers, Nyan Nyan from 3.52 to 3.09 million viewers, Ngempela from 3.24 to 2.76 million viewers, and Mokapelo from 2.9 to 2.6 million viewers.


SABC2

The big story on SABC2 is how 7de Laan's viewership keeps dropping like a rock. 7de Laan in an ongoing ratings slide, lost a further over 400 613 viewers on SABC2 in just once month during March.

Shocking timeslot changes and the abrupt removal of the weekend omnibus in March saw the Hillside soap plummet further, now down to 2.05 million viewers (25.3 share) in its new 18:00 timeslot.

That's down from February's 2.45 million and January's 2.78 million viewers.

The Afrikaans news bulletin on SABC2 also subjected to yet another new timeslot is likewise on the same trajectory as Cape Town's dam levels. From 2.1 million in January and 1.7 million in February the Afrikaans news dropped further to 1.34 million viewers in March in its new 18:30 timeslot.

The Sotho news bulletin also dropped from 1.31 to 1.21 million viewers in March while the Venda news bulletin had only 928 145 viewers.

The 11th South African Film and Television Awards, held at Sun City this year for the first time, wasn't a ratings grabber either. The 2017 Saftas was down at 1.55 million viewers from last year's 1.77 million viewers.

Muvhango is still SABC2's most watched show, up marginally in March from 6.14 to 6.24 million viewers, with consumer show Speak Out rising from 2.5 to 2.86 million viewers as the 4th most watched show on SABC2 for the month.

Drama series Bone of my Bones (2.41 million viewers) joined telenovela Keeping Score holding mostly steady at 2.5 million viewers (down slightly from February's 2.79 million viewers) to help prop up the upper-end of SABC2's ratings during March.


SABC3

"Will SABC3 survive?" asked a veteran independent TV producer this week as SABC3's ratings that can hardly go lower fell further in March.

There's now more people watching DStv than anything on SABC3, with Isidingo at 1.33 million slightly up from February's 1.15 million but steady with January's 1.37 million viewers as the most watched programme on SABC3.

The SABC's flagship English TV news bulletin slid further from 893 617 to 756 753 viewers.

The perennially immune American soap The Bold and the Beautiful has finally also succumbed to the channel's downward ratings spiral, down from 890 100 to a shocking 665 445 viewers for its most watched episode.

The abruptly cancelled High Rollers still made a showing, luring 575 987 viewers (down from February's 611 468) as the 13th most watched programme on SABC3 during March.

e.tv

Snakes upended e.tv's ratings in March, slithering to an unexpected ratings surprise.

The stable Scandal! remained e.tv's top draw, up from 4.46 million to 4.78 million viewers.

Yet the perenially second most watched show, soap Rhythm City - also rising nicely from 3.05 to 3.36 million viewers,got dethroned from its 2nd position by Sunday night movies.

Shanghai Noon (3.6 million), The Marine (3.57 million) and Snakes on a Plane on 12 March luring 3.48 million viewers, gobbled up the 2nd, 3rd and 4th most watched slots on e.tv for March, fueling e.tv's ongoing - and astounding - audience share growth.

Hit Disney films from Tangled (2.84 million) to Frozen (2.51 million) and Beauty and the Beast (2.54 million), to Disney series from Blackish (2 million) and local shows like Gold Diggers (2.77 million) and Z'bondiwe (1.95 million) are all clocking up massive audiences on e.tv as viewers are switching from the SABC to the red-letter channel with a better balance of local and latest international programming.

Once strongly dependent on basically wrestling to prop up its schedule, e.tv is dramatically and quickly TV-terraforming, with WWE Wrestling Raw (still a hit at 2.55 million) and WWE Wrestling SmackDown (2.21 million) no longer the rating smashers onto which e.tv must hang its entire schedule offering.

DStv
Miss South Africa 2017 broadcast on Mzansi Magic and M-Net made a showing luring over 874 027 viewers in March, where Mzansi Magic continues to reign supreme with its Isibaya, Our Perfect Wedding, Saints and Sinners and Date My Family as the 4 most watched shows not just on M-Net packaged channel but on all of DStv.

Further down the DStv most watched list, Mzansi Magic's The Queen, Greed & Desire, Utatakho, Papa Penny Ahee and The Ranakas crowded out the competition. On DStv it is Mzansi Magic's world and viewers gladly live in it.

The SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) channel proved a March most valuable player on DStv.

The soccer channel made a good showing during March, grabbing multiple top spots with the Absa Premiership, with 551 364 viewers for Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando on 4 March, and 478 209 viewers for the Baroka FC vs Kaizer Chiefs match on 18 March.

Besides Mzansi Magic, SuperSport 4 is the channel on MultiChoice's DStv that proved the biggest viewership draw during March.

The Nedbank Cup's matches on 11 and 12 March secured SuperSport 4 two further spots on DStv's top 30 most watched list, as well as the Soccer Wrap (449 618) and Soccer Build-Up (416 376) shows.

The FA Cup match on 13 March between Chelsea and Manchester United (338 942), and the Uefa Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain that scored 311 907 viewers added to SuperSport 4's champion channel tally.

BREAKING. SuperSport 4 turning into a 24 hour channel broadcasting all the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations games live, from Saturday.

SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) will be turning into a 24 hour 2012 Africa Cup of Nations channel on Saturday morning at 06:00.

SuperSport will be broadcasting all 32 games live from Gabon and Equatorial Guinea in high definition (HD).

All 32 games will be live on SuperSport 4 with the overflow from matches played simultaneously in the latter rounds of the group stages shown live on SuperSport 6 (DStv 206), Blitz (DStv 200) and Maximo (DStv 209).

Outside of South Africa, the SuperSport 9 channel, which is not a 24 hour channel, will mirror SuperSport 4, and will broadcast all live events from the tournament which includes two magazine shows, Hello Africa and Master Plan.

Robert Marawa, Carol Radul, Charles Anazodo, Carol Tshabalala and Thomas Mlambo are the presenters. Before the 2012 Afcon starts with the opening ceremony on Saturday from 18:30, SuperSport will broadcast the opening ceremony as well as the semi-finals and final match of both Ghana 2008 and Angola 2010.

Usuthu TV added to SuperSport 4 as a new monthly magazine show that will be profiling AmaZulu FC.

Usuthu TV has started on SuperSport 4 (DStv 204) as a new monthly magazine show that will profile one of the oldest football clubs in South Africa, while SuperSport is also expanding in Nigeria with new studio space.

Usuthu TV joins Kaizer Chiefs TV and Siwelele as a dedicated 30 minute, once-a-month magazine show every third Thursday of the month at 18:30 on SuperSport 4 (with a repeat at 20:00) that will be profiling players, film training sessions, do management interviews and show highlights from vintage matches of AmaZulu FC.

Meanwhile SuperSport has moved in and started production from its new broadcast studio in Lagos, Nigeria. SuperSport in Nigeria is using local presenters and customizing some sport content and will also produce new sport magazine shows from Nigeria.