SABC3 under content strategy review again as The Estate is set to disappear.

by Thinus Ferreira

With its channel head gone, the South African public broadcaster's struggling SABC3 is once again undergoing yet another content strategy review with the fate of its local soap The Estate up in the air after it hasn't been renewed for a further season.

 
Although the SABC isn't saying that The Estate – produced by Clive Morris Productions – has been cancelled, the broadcaster has not ordered a fourth season with filming that will wrap at the end of this month on the low-rated show that plugged the gap which was left after Isidingo was cancelled.
 
The Estate struggled in the ratings since its debut with 418 028 viewers at most during April 2023. 
 
After the cancellation of Isidingo in March 2020, viewers left to other channels as SABC3 replaced the timeslot with filler content while it took SABC3 over a year to get The Estate commissioned and on air from April 2021.
 
The SABC has told Clive Morris Productions that it won't be ordering any further episodes. It means the third season finale broadcast at the end of July will likely serve as a series finale, unless SABC3 perhaps commissions a fourth season at some point in the future. 
 
Irrespective of whether there is a fourth season, The Estate's existing audience will evaporate from July since a fourth season won't follow seamlessly after the third with the show which will have to start from scratch to lure an audience if it were to return.
 
The SABC says further production of The Estate beyond the already ordered episodes have been "put on hold". After multiple turnaround strategies for the channel, the SABC says SABC3 is once again under a content strategy review.
 
"Key market changes such as the impact of the analogue switch and load shedding has forced a review on the channel’s strategy. In addition, The Estate will be put on hold whilst reviewing its offering. This exercise is aimed at enabling the S3 to better compete within the environment," the SABC says in a statement.
 
SABC3 is currently without a channel head after Pat van Heerden left at the end of April. 
 
She shepherded the development of The Estate and was instrumental in finally getting it on the air. 

She however struggled in the recommissioning process for further seasons due to internal politics within the SABC, which led to breaks between the first and second and second and third seasons of the show. 
 
In late 2021 the cast and crew of The Estate went unpaid for months with the SABC that said in January 2022 that it was concerned about the non-payment of the cast and crew since the broadcaster had made its payment to the production company.
 
"S3 extends its gratitude to the producer, cast and crew of The Estate for a world-class and award-winning production and thanks the viewers for their support," the SABC says in a statement.
 
Khayelihle Dom Gumede, Clive Morris Productions chief operating officer (COO) in a statement says "It has been an immense privilege to work with the SABC in producing The Estate over the last three seasons".
 
"We are extremely grateful to our national broadcaster for the bravery and courage they have demonstrated in affording us the opportunity to tell authentic, hard-hitting, and groundbreaking stories, which reflect the South Africa we live in today."
 
"Thank you to our incredible crew and cast for their unparalleled talent and commitment and most of all thank you to you the viewers who have walked the journey with us over the last two years. We look forward to sharing the next chapter of The Estate with the nation after our production hiatus."

SABC3 abruptly halts further production of low-rated The Estate as part of 'forced review' of channel's content strategy, Clive Morris Productions show very likely cancelled.

by Thinus Ferreira

The SABC has abruptly halted further production of SABC3's early prime-time soap The Estate beyond the third season, with the local show which has struggled in the ratings and which is likely cancelled after the South African public broadcaster has been "forced" to review SABC3's content strategy.

According to the SABC, production of The Estate has been "put on hold" although insiders say it's unlikely that the Clive Morris Productions show will be back. 

Production stopped and started between the first and second, and second and third seasons and now The Estate will take another indeterminate break after its third season.

The SABC in a statement says The Estate's third season "regrettably comes to a wrap" and will "take a hiatus at the end of its third season at the end of July 2023". 

SABC3 channel head Pat van Heerden is gone since the end of April 2023. She shepherded the development of The Estate and was instrumental in finally getting it on the air to plug the hole left by the cancellation of the long-running Isidingo when the SABC had no plan or replacement.

Pat van Heerden struggled in the recommissioning process of The Estate due to internal politics within the SABC, which cause long breaks between the first and second, and second and third seasons of the show for what was supposed to be a seamless series. 

With every break which caused a disruption in viewer behaviour, viewers went away and had to be coaxed back into the pattern of watching the show, causing additional damage to The Estate's ratings.

In late 2021 the cast and crew of The Estate went unpaid for months with the SABC that said in January 2023 that it was concerned about the non-payment of the cast and crew since the broadcaster had made its payment to the production company.

In halting further episode orders of The Estate, the SABC now says that "Key market changes such as the impact of the analogue switch-off and load-shedding has forced a review on the channel's strategy".

The Estate will produce the last of its third season episodes during May and June.

"S3 extends its gratitude to the producer, cast and crew of The Estate for a world-class and award-winning production and thanks the viewers for their support," the SABC says in a statement.

Khayelihle Dom Gumede, Clive Morris Productions chief operating officer (COO) in a statement says "It has been an immense privilege to work with the SABC in producing The Estate over the last three seasons".

"We are extremely grateful to our national broadcaster for the bravery and courage they have demonstrated in affording us the opportunity to tell authentic, hard-hitting, and groundbreaking stories, which reflect the South Africa we live in today."

"Thank you to our incredible crew and cast for their unparalleled talent and commitment and most of all thank you to you the viewers who have walked the journey with us over the last two years. We look forward to sharing the next chapter of The Estate with the nation after our production hiatus."

The Estate has struggled in the ratings since its debut with 418 028 viewers at most during April 2023.

ALSO READ: SABC3 fills its 2-month prime time The Estate telenovela gap with a repackaged rebroadcast titled The Estate Rewind.

ALSO READ: SABC3's troubled The Estate going off-air for over 2 months.

ALSO READ: SABC1 tries to save S3's The Estate with a bizarre primetime rerun from 6 September at 7pm with the local telenovela that will now be shown back-to-back on two SABC channels nightly.

ALSO READ: SABC removes the SABC1 rebroadcast of SABC3's struggling The Estate telenovela that will vanish a month before the end of its first season. 

ALSO READ: SABC1 returns the remaining first season episodes of SABC3's struggling telenovela The Estate to its schedule in March with a double bill conclusion on 8 April. 

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. 

The Estate: The latest on SABC3's ongoing rigmarole with 7pm - what you'll now see from tonight after The Estate: Rewind got dropped after just a week.

by Thinus Ferreira

Set to inflict both confusion and viewer whiplash, SABC3 is once again removing The Estate from its schedule from this evening after just a week's episodes of The Estate: Rewind was shown, suddenly replacing it with a rebroadcast of SABC1's drama series Family Secrets.

The third season of The Estate, produced by Clive Morris Productions, was supposed to continue seamlessly on S3 after the end of the second season but issues around the recommissioning process meant there will now be a gap of two months before viewers will see new episodes of the ratings-challenged show.

Earlier this month SABC3 announced that the third season of The Estate would start on 1 July. Then S3 announced that it has been brought forward to 20 June.

SABC3 initially planned to fill The Estate's timeslot with a rebroadcast of the SABC1 series Family Secrets with Khanyi Mbau, Katlego Danke, Vusi Kunene and Robert Whitehead and said that it would start on 18 April.

Then S3 suddenly announced that Family Secrets would no longer be on but that the channel would instead be showing a repackaged version of the first two seasons of The Estate, entitled The Estate: Rewind. The channel said that Family Secrets would now start on S3 on 16 May.  

The Estate: Rewind started Monday a week ago in the 19:00-timeslot with five episodes shown but has now suddenly been pulled from the schedule.

SABC3 abruptly removed The Estate: Rewind after just a week and will now start showing Family Secrets from today, Monday 25 April. There is no indication of when The Estate: Rewind will now start, or resume.

Pat van Heerden, SABC3 channel head, in response to a media query about the constant chopping and changing of the S3's 19:00-timeslot after this week's latest change to the timeslot, told TVwithThinus that "The Estate season 3 was supposed to be delivered for the channel in April".

"The recommission process started in July last year but delays occurred in the processes at SABC resulting in a gap on-air."

"The gap on-air increased as more delays occurred, meaning that the channel had to find solutions. Each time the date got pushed out the channel has to identify solutions and part of the problem is that we have no new stock in local drama to replace The Estate with."

"We are very keen for The Estate to be back on-air as it is a tentpole for the channel's schedule and as soon as this occurs the channel will stabilise."

ALSO READ: SABC3 fills its 2-month prime time The Estate telenovela gap with a repackaged rebroadcast titled The Estate Rewind.

ALSO READ: SABC3's troubled The Estate going off-air for over 2 months.

ALSO READ: SABC1 tries to save S3's The Estate with a bizarre primetime rerun from 6 September at 7pm with the local telenovela that will now be shown back-to-back on two SABC channels nightly.

ALSO READ: SABC removes the SABC1 rebroadcast of SABC3's struggling The Estate telenovela that will vanish a month before the end of its first season. 

ALSO READ: SABC1 returns the remaining first season episodes of SABC3's struggling telenovela The Estate to its schedule in March with a double bill conclusion on 8 April. 

SABC3 fills its 2-month prime time The Estate telenovela gap with a repackaged rebroadcast titled The Estate Rewind.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC3 is no longer replacing the 2-month gap between the second season and the start of the third season of its local telenovela The Estate with a rebroadcast of SABC1's Family Secrets from today, but will now be showing repackaged episodes of the first two seasons of The Estate, retitled as The Estate Rewind, from Monday evening.

The third season of The Estate was supposed to continue seamlessly on S3 after the end of the second season which was this past Friday but issues around the recommissioning process meant there will now be a gap of just over two months before viewers will see new episodes of the ratings-challenged show.

The debut of the third season of The Estate which S3 originally announced as 1 July has now also been brought slightly forward with the first new episode of the Clive Morris Productions show that will now start on 20 June in the tough timeslot of 19:00.

SABC3 initially planned to fill The Estate's timeslot with a rebroadcast of the SABC1 series Family Secrets with Khanyi Mbau, Katlego Danke, Vusi Kunene and Robert Whitehead from 18 April.

That has now changed and Family Secrets will now start on S3 on 16 May.  

For a month from 18 April, SABC3 will now show The Estate Rewind - repackaged episodes from the first two seasons, showing the major plot points of the story so far.

"The Estate Rewind episodes will explore the subject of land reform, identity, and historical disempowerment. It will give the viewers a teaser of what to expect in The Estate season 3, which is set to return on 20 June 2022," S3 says.

Pat van Heerden, SABC3 channel head says "The Estate Rewind is our time to get up close to the world of our story. It is a time for us to contemplate the lines between reality and fiction – and how sometimes fictional daily drama can give us acute truths about the real world".

The Estate, revolving around the dual rich/poor communities of an exclusive housing development has had a troubled production and viewership history since its debut a year ago in April 2021 as an Isidingo prime time replacement.

The Estate has been struggling severely to hook eyeballs and with anaemic ratings slipping lower, the SABC decided to rebroadcast the first season during prime time on sister channel SABC1 in 2021 to try and lure more viewers to the second season on S3.

The Estate made its debut on SABC3 in April 2021 with disappointing ratings that kept worsening, mostly due to damage suffered by the success of e.tv's House of Zwide in the same death-zone 19:00-timeslot.

The Estate only pulled 352 741 viewers at most during prime time on S3 during March 2022.

Last year the cast and crew of The Estate went unpaid for months with several broken promises of payment and with the SABC at the time saying it had "great concern" about the issue.

Clive Morris Productions told cast and crew in late-2021 that their payments can't be made because of "delayed payment from the SABC", but the SABC said that it had paid the company.

ALSO READ: SABC3's troubled The Estate going off-air for over 2 months.

ALSO READ: SABC1 tries to save S3's The Estate with a bizarre primetime rerun from 6 September at 7pm with the local telenovela that will now be shown back-to-back on two SABC channels nightly.

ALSO READ: SABC removes the SABC1 rebroadcast of SABC3's struggling The Estate telenovela that will vanish a month before the end of its first season. 

ALSO READ: SABC1 returns the remaining first season episodes of SABC3's struggling telenovela The Estate to its schedule in March with a double bill conclusion on 8 April.

SABC3's troubled The Estate going off-air for over 2 months.

by Thinus Ferreira

SABC3's troubled local primetime telenovela The Estate, is going on a break next week, with the show, produced by Clive Morris Productions that is going off-air for two and a half months.

The Estate, revolving around the dual rich/poor communities of an exclusive housing development has been plagued by production changes and challenges since its debut in April 2021 on the public broadcaster's S3 channel where it launched as an Isidingo replacement with little marketing, publicity or fanfare.

The Estate has been struggling severely to hook eyeballs, and with anaemic ratings constantly slipping lower, the SABC decided to rebroadcast the first season during prime time on sister channel SABC1 to try and lure more viewers to the second season on S3.

The Estate had at most a measly 296 682 viewers at 19:00 during primetime in February, again down from January's paltry 312 382 that made a production break or cancellation almost a certainty.

The Estate made its debut on SABC3 with disappointing ratings that kept worsening, mostly due to damage suffered by the success of e.tv's House of Zwide in the same death-zone 19:00-timeslot.

Last year the cast and crew of The Estate went unpaid for months with several broken promises of payment and with the SABC that said it had "great concern" about the issue.

Clive Morris Productions told cast and crew in late-2021 that their payments can't be made because of "delayed payment from the SABC", but the SABC said that it had paid the company.

On Monday SABC3 confirmed that "the popular telenovela The Estate will take a break from broadcast with the last episode of season 2 broadcasting on Friday 15 April". A third season of The Estate will start on 1 July.

Pat van Heerden, S3 channel boss, told TVwithThinus that "The Estate is a key pillar of the channel. We are intending recommissioning and it's in the process of recommissioning.  We are however facing a little bit of a gap between season 2 and season 3 which is very unfortunate".

"We're absolutely committed to the production quality and how The Estate has been working for S3. It both works in the morning - bringing audiences in. We have an omnibus on a Saturday; it does exceptionally well for us, and obviously our most challenging time is primetime."

"Isidingo was off for so long, so we've lost a lot of audiences who were loyal at that time on local soaps. We're building; since the beginning of The Estate we now see an incremental graph going up, slowly, but it's building and we have a commitment to that. And not only to The Estate but also to more long-running drama that we're trying to build on the channel."

"And we have to. We're dead in the water if we think we're going to a foreign local TV channel - it's not a possibility. We have to be a local channel providing high-end local drama."

The Estate's timeslot will be replaced by a rebroadcast of the SABC1 series Family Secrets with Khanyi Mbau, Katlego Danke, Vusi Kunene and Robert Whitehead.

SABC1 returns the remaining first season episodes of SABC3's struggling telenovela The Estate to its schedule in March with a double bill conclusion on 8 April.

by Thinus Ferreira

The rebroadcast of the struggling SABC3 telenovela The Estate is back on the SABC1 schedule in March, a day after TVwithThinus reported on Thursday that SABC1 decided to drop it from 7 March a month before its first season conclusion, to make way for a new telenovela entitled The Executives.

On Friday the SABC once again issued yet another schedule change for SABC1 with The Estate back on SABC1 during March after it disappeared in the previous scheduling update.

SABC1 will now burn off the remainder of The Estate's first season episodes until 8 April when it will end with a double bill first season ender between 19:30 and 20:30.

The SABC didn't give any explanation for the schedule removal of The Estate and adding it back to the SABC1 schedule on Friday,except to note that "The Estate will continue to be broadcast on SABC1".

The Estate - positioned as the replacement of SABC3's cancelled Isidingo that ended in March 2020 - made its debut in April 2021 with disappointing ratings that kept worsening month after month, with the show that will very likely not survive past this year.

The SABC and SABC3 did very little to no publicity before, during and after the debut of The Estate to give it any kind of push for relevance in a crowded TV space with the media covering television that moved on after the broadcaster showed that The Estate isn't an important show to give media attention or coverage to.

In 2021 the crew and cast of The Estate went unpaid for months with several broken promises of payment and with the SABC that said it had "great concern" about the issue.

Clive Morris Productions told cast and crew in late-2021 that their payments can't be made because of "delayed payment from the SABC", but the SABC said that it had paid the company.

While the SABC said that Clive Morris Productions has been fully paid for The Estate, the production company told cast and crew who were last paid in November 2021 that it's because of "delayed payment from the SABC due to the change in contract".

The SABC said that it "can confirm that the corporation has fully paid the production house responsible for The Estate for the season in contract".

ALSO READ: SABC removes the SABC1 rebroadcast of SABC3's struggling The Estate telenovela that will vanish a month before the end of its first season.

ALSO READ: SABC1 tries to save S3's The Estate with a bizarre primetime rerun from 6 September at 7pm with the local telenovela that will now be shown back-to-back on two SABC channels nightly.

SABC removes the SABC1 rebroadcast of SABC3's struggling The Estate telenovela that will vanish a month before the end of its first season.

by Thinus Ferreira

In another embarrassing and inexplicable decision, the SABC has decided to scupper the rebroadcast of the first season of the repositioned SABC3 telenovela The Estate from the SABC1 schedule with the struggling show that will abruptly disappear a month before its end with viewers who've been watching it to catch up seeing no conclusion on SABC1.

The SABC decided to place the struggling S3 telenovela from Clive Morris Productions on SABC1 for a rerun since September 2021 but is now removing it before even having shown the first full first season.

The daft decision of starting a show and ending it without showing the ending comes with no explanation from the SABC, SABC3 or SABC1 about the programming move.

The Estate, struggling in the ratings on S3, will be gone from SABC1 from Monday 7 March when it's suddenly getting replaced by a new telenovela, The Executives from Mondays to Wednesdays.

The Estate - positioned as the replacement of SABC3's cancelled Isidingo that ended in March 2020 - made its debut in April 2021 with disappointing ratings that kept worsening month after month, with the show that will very likely not survive past this year.

The SABC and SABC3 did very little to no publicity before, during and after the debut of The Estate to give it any kind of push for relevance in a crowded TV space with the media covering television that moved on after the broadcaster showed that The Estate isn't an important show to give media attention or coverage to.

In 2021 the crew and cast of The Estate went unpaid for months with several broken promises of payment and with the SABC that said it had "great concern" about the issue.

Clive Morris Productions told cast and crew in late-2021 that their payments can't be made because of "delayed payment from the SABC", but the SABC said that it had paid the company.

While the SABC said that Clive Morris Productions has been fully paid for The Estate, the production company told cast and crew who were last paid in November 2021 that it's because of "delayed payment from the SABC due to the change in contract".

The SABC said that it "can confirm that the corporation has fully paid the production house responsible for The Estate for the season in contract".

ALSO READ: SABC1 tries to save S3's The Estate with a bizarre primetime rerun from 6 September at 7pm with the local telenovela that will now be shown back-to-back on two SABC channels nightly.

SABC says it has fully paid and has 'great concern' about the non-payment of crew and cast of Clive Morris Productions' struggling The Estate on SABC3.

by Thinus Ferreira

The South African public broadcaster says it has "great concern" that the crew and cast of the local telenovela The Estate on SABC3, produced by Clive Morris Productions, have not been paid since the SABC had fully paid the company.

The Estate is the latest South African TV production doing a show for the SABC where staff and talent have been left without income, following SABC2's Muvhango and 7de Laan where crew and cast went for months in 2021 without getting paid.

While the SABC said that Clive Morris Productions has been fully paid for The Estate, the production company told cast and crew who were last paid in November 2021 that it's because of "delayed payment from the SABC".

Cast and crew of The Estate were promised they would be paid at the end of December 2021, then 4 January 2022 but both dates came and went without any payment.

Clive Morris Productions in a memo told those working on The Estate that it's due to "a delayed payment from the SABC due to the change in contract" and that "this is the very last thing we wanted and up to this point have been working on alternative funding solutions to not default on our obligations to you".

"We anticipate that we will have settled all due payments to crew by 10 January and will conduct part payments as money comes in to at least get some funds to each individual," Clive Morris Productions emailed The Estate crew in an internal memo.

"Some of these payments have taken effect and we will continue to make part payments over the course of this week. As a result, we have taken the decision to shift the start of production to 10 January."

"Can we request therefore that gear check and prep be done on the 8th so that the 10th is the first shoot day. We are working as hard as we can to try to settle the matter ahead of the 10th but can only give a firm confirmation for the 10th," Clive Morris Productions wrote.

The SABC maintains that Clive Morris Productions has been "fully paid".

"The SABC can confirm that the corporation has fully paid the production house responsible for The Estate for the season in contract," Gugu Ntuli, SABC spokesperson, told TVwithThinus.

"The SABC signs a production budget with the production house and does not engage in any agreements with the cast and crew members."

"Although the SABC does not engage directly with the cast and crew members, the non-payment of their salary is a great concern and as per norm the corporation engages with the production houses to update them on processes which may be underway relating to their respective contract and therefore communication relating to all contractual matters are between the SABC and the respective production house," Gugu Ntuli said.

The Estate continues to struggle in the ratings on SABC3 with anaemic viewership in its timeslot that kept falling through 2021.

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.

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.

TV RATINGS SEPTEMBER 2021. From Idols and The Estate to SABC3 and Cyril Ramaphosa the TV star: 9 latest SA TV ratings must-knows.

by Thinus Ferreira

While The Estate on the struggling SABC3 keeps plunging in the ratings and the latest season of Idols on Mzansi Magic failed to regain its ratings sheen, South Africa's September TV ratings revealed several interesting viewership insights as the SABC's TV channels keep losing viewers and SABC3 fell to another new all-time viewership low.

1. When Scandal! is on, 1 in every 2 people watches

In September the public broadcaster's SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 TV channels all lost ratings share with all three channels seeing a slight viewership and share decrease while the country's only free-to-air commercial broadcaster e.tv managed to increase its ratings.

Uzalo remains the most-watched TV show in South Africa, of the SABC and on SABC1 although it gave up viewers in September, slightly falling from 7.64 million in August to 6.87million viewers in September.

SABC1's perennial second and third place shows, Generations - The Legacy with 5.96 million viewers and Skeem Saam with 5.03 million viewers on SABC1 were slightly off from their August audiences.

e.tv's primetime soap Scandal! now holds the solid third place as South Africa's most watched TV show with 5.74 million viewers and a 48.3 share. It means that half of the available TV audience have their TV's tuned to Scandal! at 19:30 on a weeknight.

Scandal!'s lead-in, House of Zwide at 19:00 on e.tv held steady in September with 4.43 million viewers.

2. Cyril Ramaphosa - the presidential TV star

South African president Cyril Ramaphosa remains a South African TV star. 

His prime time presidential address on 12 September announcing the country's move to Lockdown Level 2 lured 2.53 million viewers on SABC2 and an additional 2.03 million viewers on e.tv.

Besides those viewers watching on SABC News, eNCA and Newzroom Africa pushing the combined total even higher, means that he pulled a bigger audience than Muvhango in September that was SABC2's most-watched show with 3.69 million viewers. 

On SABC1 the Zulu TV news bulletin was watched by 3.25 million viewers and the Xhosa TV news by 3.03 million viewers as the 4th and 5th most-watched programming in the channel.

3. The Estate finds better TV real estate on SABC1

After starting repeats of old episodes of The Estate on SABC1 from September, the repurposed SABC3 weekday soap lured 2.4 million viewers in its 19:30 timeslot with a 21.8 share - roughly the same as when uBettina Wethu was airing in the same timeslot. 

The Estate's ratings fortune however continue to sink in its airing of first-run episodes on SABC3.

On SABC2 its Afrikaans weekday soap 7de Laan held steady in September at 1.09 million viewers, with the Setswana TV news pulling in 726 229 viewers during September, followed by the Afrikaans TV news with 703 432 viewers, and the Venda/Tsonga TV news with 607 324 viewers.

4. Morning Live keeps shining

SABC2's Morning Live breakfast show lured 602 002 viewers in September - more than some prime time shows like Speak Out at 572 545 on SABC2 or anything shown on SABC3, showing how valuable and lucrative the real estate of morning shows are to broadcasters as a coveted advertiser TV destination.

5. SABC3 and Con Air

The SABC's TV channel on life-support, SABC3, continues to bleed and remains in a very bad and deteriorating condition. 

Strip out the once-off football match between Bafana Bafana against Ghana in Qatar on 6 September that lured 1.03 million viewers as SABC3's most watched piece of content for the month and SABC3 once again sagged to a new all-time low of 673 524 viewers at most for the film Con Air on 5 September. 

This 673 524 viewers - the most SABC3 could garner for September besides the soccer match, is down further from SABC3's August highest audience of 733 963 for a Costa Rica nature documentary.

The English TV news bulletin on SABC3 at 18:00 lured 387 841 viewers - a far cry from e.tv's well-performing etv News bulletin at 20:00 that pulled 1.65 million viewers in September and the 1.52 million viewers who watched the eNCA-simulcast South Africa Tonight at 19:00 on e.tv.

6. The Estate in terminal first-run decline

With truly shocking viewership numbers it won't come as any surprise if The Estate on SABC3 produced by Clive Morris Productions gets cancelled like the channel did with High Rollers, is shifted permanently to SABC1 as a first-run show where it now airs as repeats since September, or is moved out of the shark-infested TV waters of 19:00.

Viewership for the expensive to produce series literally fell of the ratings cliff in September as its ratings keeps sliding lower month after month since its debut.

While The Estate still managed 300 738 viewers in August - up against the incredibly damaging House of Zwide on e.tv - the show literally disappeared in September and no longer shows up as one of the 20 most-watched shows on SABC3. 

It means that The Estate plunged below the 291 793 viewers that an episode of Challenge SOS pulled in 20th position.

The talk show Unpacked with Relebogile that still had 304 444 viewers in August (more than The Estate and much cheaper to produce) also disappeared from SABC3 in September.

7. Deur Dik en Dun: e.tv's solid MVP TV bench

At e.tv the ratings life-signs are strong and stable - the life-blood for ad planners and buyers who must project and "guestimate" future viewership based on past and current viewership patterns.

Besides Scandal! and House of Zwide, Imbewu with 3.83 million viewers in third place and Durban Gen in 4th with 2.33 million viewers are the other two most valuable players in e.tv's top-4 TV bench.

Family Feud SA from Rapid Blue held stead at just over 2 million viewers in 5th place. 

The Afrikaans-dubbed Turkish drama telenovela Deur Dik en Dun continues to shine with a whopping 1.67 million loyal viewers, with e.tv's strategy of customising Turkish telenovelas that is paying off handsomely.

8. Idols stays damaged

On DStv local reality drama continues to be the flavour of the month but viewers although hundreds of thousands of viewers are still not in the mood to return to Idols in the aftermath of the Somizi Mhlongo scandal. 

Time will tell whether Idols in South Africa is permanently damaged and has started the ratings slide that eventually grabbed hold of American Idol in America.

In September the lurid cheater's expose reality series Uyajola 9/9 on Moja Love (DStv 157) surged to the top of the DStv ratings pile where Idols used to reign, grabbing 1.58 million DStv subscribers. Gomora on Mzansi Magic (DStv 161) followed in second place with 1.15 million viewers, and with The Queen in third with 1.02 million viewers. 

Idols, produced by [SIC] Entertainment and now in the Top 10 Sunday live performances period of the 17th season, managed only 709 655 viewers at most during the month for the 19 September episode - very slightly up from August's 693 760 as only the 9th most watched show on DStv. 

It's quite a fall for the series that reigned supreme in the ratings during previous seasons during this phase of the competition.

9. DStv sees new Giants rise

Other DStv stand-out include the little show that could, Giants of the City, on Moja Love pulling 791 241 viewers in September, showing strong growth from August's 604 503 viewers. 

MultiChoice's top 30 most watched shows in September all came from just 3 TV channels: M-Net's Mzansi Magic and Mzansi Wethu, as well as Siyaya TV's Moja Love.