by Thinus Ferreira
South Africa's official television ratings have been ripped away from public view and scrutiny, with TV viewership figures no longer being published since 2025 - a decision that industry insiders are slamming as a big step backwards.
The Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) industry body with Gary Whitaker as CEO, has decided to stop the publication of its truncated monthly TV ratings tally of the viewership of SABC1, SABC2, SABC3, eMedia's e.tv and MultiChoice's DStv.
South Africa's Television Audience Measurement Survey (TAMS) panel remains - the viewers' panel used to determine the country's overnight ratings - as does TV viewership measurement done by companies like Nielsen in the South African market.
However, none of the TV ratings that used to be posted publicly for over a decade - initially weekly and later only monthly - are posted on the BRCSA's website anymore.
Over years, the information gave the general public, the media, viewers, advertisers, broadcasters, academics, as well as the broader South African film and TV industry, general insight into South Africa's top performing TV shows, the flow and change in viewership patterns, and well as what people are watching in terms of numbers and audience share.
Only people and companies like ad buyers and broadcasters who subscribe and pay thousands of rand per month now get access to ratings data.
TV ratings reports and viewership data published between 2015 and late-2024 remain available on the BRCSA website as archived data.
In comparative TV markets to South Africa, the Broadcasters' Audience Research Board (Barb) in the United Kingdom continues to publish TV ratings data weekly without any problem, as does Australia, New Zealand, and the United States where anyone who wants, can instantly see what is being watched and by how many people.
"It is disappointing. I think the media and public should be able to see our TV and broadcasters' ratings and numbers," a veteran ad executive and media buyer told TVwithThinus who accesses South Africa's TV ratings through a subscription service anyway but laments that the BRCSA stopped making the digest monthly ratings publicly available.
Another veteran TV insider said: "Any semblance of transparency is gone and it's impossible for the general public to know what's true when it comes to TV viewership in South Africa".
A veteran academic and university lecturer in TV and film, also slammed the decision, saying the BRCSA's axing of publishing South Africa's TV ratings "is a huge loss to South African scholarship on the local audio-visual industry".
"South African researchers based at public tertiary institutions, and especially postgraduate students, cannot afford to pay the same rates as advertising and marketing companies for the simplified statistics."
"Information about the viewership popularity of a local soap opera, telenovela, or even the evening news broadcast, is extremely important in longitudinal and other qualitative and quantitative research studies, where one can draw conclusions about audience preferences, in terms of storylines, character depictions (e.g stereotypical representations of specific groupings) and other wide-ranging questions."
"This is also a blow to the public broadcaster and the public who has a right to know how the SABC's programmes and content are received and watched and by how many people."
TV ratings removed
The BRCSA, established a decade ago in 2015 out of the South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) that until then published ratings, tells TVwithThinus it decided to no longer publish summarised monthly South African ratings information in order to uphold the "credibility" of the audience measurement system.
The BRCSA board is currently comprised of Monde Twala (Paramount Africa), Melissa McNally (Kagiso Media), Antonio Lee (eMedia Holdings), Fahmeeda Cassim-Surtee (DStv Media Sales) and Ursula Shikhati (SABC Sales) from television, as well as Tracy Stafford, Johan van Rooyen and Alfie Jay representing radio.
In response to a media query, Gary Whitaker said the BRCSA made the decision in December 2024 to stop publishing any further South African TV ratings publicly "after identifying concerns regarding the interpretation and legitimacy of top-performing programme figures".
"Some entities were extracting data in a manner that differed from the BRC's methodology, creating inconsistencies and confusion."
"Given that the BRC has no control over how data is pulled from various industry software providers, the organisation conducted a risk assessment on supplying audience data directly to the market free of charge."
He notes that the BRCSA wants to preserve revenue and membership value.
"Making audience data freely available could undermine the value of BRC membership, leading paying stakeholders such as broadcasters, media agencies, and advertisers to question their financial contribution."
According to him, a decline in paying members could weaken the funding structure and thereby "threatening the long-term sustainability of audience measurement in South Africa".
Gary Whitaker claims that "Public users may extract and interpret data incorrectly, leading to inconsistencies and potential misrepresentation of audience figures. If different users pull data using varying methodologies it could create discrepancies that erode trust in the JIC's measurement system".
Whitaker says the BRCSA also considered "preventing competitive misuse".
"Unrestricted access to audience data could allow competitors both local and international to use the insights strategically without contributing to funding. Some entities might selectively use data without proper context, potentially misrepresenting trends and distorting the market view."
"By limiting public access, the BRCSA aims to uphold the integrity, sustainability, and credibility of the official audience measurement system while ensuring that stakeholders who invest in the currency continue to derive value from it."
Gary Whitaker was also asked why Barb in the United Kingdom and other countries have no problem to continue to make their countries' TV ratings data publicly available and that the move seems to set South Africa back compared to the insight into viewership and ratings data that is available publicly in other countries.
He says "The TAMS ratings in South Africa are accessible through various software providers, ensuring that both the public and industry have access to viewership data. The BRC's priority is to safeguard the sustainability of the currency by maintaining a sound funding model while mitigating risks associated with free data availability".
Asked if there is another way that the BRCSA will make TV ratings data available to the industry and public, or if this is the end of accessible TV ratings for South Africa, Gary Whitaker said "The data is accessible but must be paid for and pulled by the end-user".
Barb in the United Kingdom said it generally doesn't comment on the way other measurement bodies chose to operate but referred TVwithThinus to its third core purpose listed on its website which it said is quite relevant.
On its website, Barb notes that the third of three purposes of its publishing of ratings data and insights fulfil the aim "to inform how broadcasters and other media services operate in the public interest".
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