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 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.
