BREAKING. South Africa's TV audience steadily increasing; DStv Compact households surpass MultiChoice's DStv Premium bouquet.

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South Africa's TV audience is steadily increasing with a massive increase in pay TV uptake in South Africa thanks to huge growth in MultiChoice's DStv Compact offering and the growing popularity of the cheaper bouquet aimed towards the lower end of the market.

"DStv has made large increases and from viewing figures its very clear that MultiChoice is selling the DStv Compact bouquet like there is no tomorrow," Craig Johnson from Nielsen South Africa told ad planners, media buyers and media specialists at the quarterly industry update of the South African Advertising Research Foundation (Saarf).

The TV audience measurement company is also seeing not just increases in the overall number of TV households and TV viewers in South Africa, but also households owning and using a personal video recorder (PVR). "M-Net is the only broadcaster where its viewership is steadily decreasing - but it's got to do with M-Net not being able to switch-over to digital terrestrial broadcasting yet and the phasing out of its analogue decoders. Once digital terrestrial television (DTT) starts in South Africa, M-Net will get there," Craig Johnson said.

South Africa's TV universe - the pivotal number ad buyers, planners, broadcasters and media strategists use to allocate and make advertising campaign decisions - has grown by more thousands of people.

"The interesting thing is that DStv Compact households in South Africa has now firmly overtaken DStv Premium households," said Craig Johnson. DStv Premium households within the TV universe are estimated at 1,75 million and DStv Compact at 1,85 million in South Africa.

On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV has also shown growth and is estimated at 205 797 households after two years since it started.

The latest viewership data for April 2012 shows for instance not just a total TV viewership increase for South Africa, but also a huge increase for DStv viewership. SABC viewership is increasing as well largely attributed to SABC1. SABC2 however is down (-4,3%) while SABC3, M-Net and e.tv remain flat.

Time-shifted viewing (TSV) under South African TV viewers thanks to DStv's PVR is also growing. TopTV doesn't have a PVR in the market yet.

Between January and May 2012, viewership data shows about 25 000 people who are watching time-shifted programming daily (live plus viewing on the same day as live (VOSDAL) viewing). It increases over a 7 day period. Although the bulk of added time-shifted viewing happens with the first 3 days of a recording, significant TV viewing happens up to 7 days after a broadcast.

"Even though the number is still small compared to the rest of the world, South Africa's time-shifted viewing pattern follows exactly the international trend where significant viewing gains are being made for programming up to 7 days later with cumulative time-shifted viewing," said Craig Johnson.

DStv BoxOffice and DStv's video On Demand programming and offerings are not measured yet.

Meanwhile MultiChoice is in the process of installing a "boosted HD PVR panel" of 170 households into South Africa's TV universe also getting the TVM5 series meter with UNITAM technology. Whilst it won't affect TV audience measurement in terms of  ratings, it will help to provide a much clearer picture in future of what exactly on DStv subscribers are watching, and to measure time-shifted viewing more accurately.

Nine additional HD PVR households out of the to be installed 170 have already been added, with about 20 to 25 which will be done per week.  About 100 will have been installed by the start of the 2012 Olympic Games by the end of July.

Craig Johnson warned that the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games to be broadcast on multiple SuperSport TV channels as well as SABC2 from the end of July and in August will lead to viewership disruption as broadcasters alter their TV schedule and viewers alter their viewing patterns.

BREAKING. Nando's banned Diversity TV commercial to be shown on TopTV in South Africa across multiple TV channels from Thursday.

I was told last night by sources that Nando's banned TV commercial with its anti-xenophobia message which was taken off by MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net and removed by e.tv after being banned by the SABC as well, is returning to television and will be shown on On Digital Media's (ODM) TopTV channels.

TopTV took the decision to be the broadcaster and platform to return the TV advert to the South African airwaves after meetings with Nando's media agency, The MediaShop, to provide a broadcast platform for the advert on television. The advert on YouTube has gone viral the past three weeks with hundreds of thousands of views.

Nando's Diversity TV ad will now be seen on TopTV from tomorrow (Thursday) on multiple TopTV channels, including Top One, Top Movies, Top Movies +2, Top Movies +24, Top History, Top explore, Top Crime, Top Gospel and the Afrikaans TV channel ASTV.

"We are a young yet highly competitive player in the pay TV space in South Africa," says Jean Meyer, the vice president for airtime sales of TopTV. "As such, we are prepared to push the envelope and use our platform to promote freedom of expression and to encourage debate and conversation among our diverse subscriber base."

TopTV's Top One channel also brought the ZA News satirical puppet news show back to South African television last year. "We applaud Nando's for tackling often thorny, South African issues by giving them a satirical twist," says TopTV. "The positive message contained in the advert with the line 'real South Africans love diversity' is a sentiment that all South Africans should embrace," says Jean Meyer.

BREAKING. More Afrotrash banished from the building as Big Brother StarGame evicts 2 more contestants for physical violence.

Very serious questions needs to be asked as to why Endemol South Africa as the producer and M-Net as the broadcaster are allowing people who clearly are not psychologically strong enough, to be part of Big Brother Africa following the immediately elimination of yet another two contestants today from Big Brother StarGame following violent outbursts.

Zimbabwe's Big Brother StarGame contestants became the latest disgusting Afrotrash who can't act like adults after Rockford "Roki" Josphats and Maneta Musanhi were shown the door following them breaching the violence rule.

Maneta Musanhi threw bleach in Roki's face. After the cleaning fluid, Roki poured water over Maneta Mushani's head. Manetha Musanhi then went further and threatened to stab Roki with a knife. Like TV trash of the lowest kind - those who not only have no respect for others but also have no respect for themselves - fought like immature children.

Rockford "Roki" Josphats and Maneta Musanhi were both dumped from the show two weeks after Ghana's so-called comedian DKB and Zambia's so-called model Zainab were banished following physical violence and assault in front of the cameras. 


Something is clearly wrong with the way Endemol South Africa and M-Net screen the Africa trash who willingly submit themselves to be filmed 24/7 in the Big Brother Africa house which is currently in its 7th season.

Despite two removals from the house early in June and stark and stern warnings and seeing what happened, two more contestants have proven that they have a psychological inability to keep themselves from violence even after they saw what the penalty would be.

Why these people have been allowed to be included in the show is a serious question, given their propensity for violent outbursts. Was there not a better indication before they were selected that these 4 contestants are not able to handle stress, provocation and the pressures from being placed in a show like this?

"Despite Big Brother intervening and advising both housemates directly that they needed to amend their behaviour immediately, in line with the clearly stated house rules forbidding violence and provocation, the housemates chose to disregard this instruction," says M-Net as to why another two contestants have immediately been removed from the TV production.

Roki and Maneta Musanhi - just like the removed Afrotrash before them - will now be getting psychological and medical treatment and counceling "to assist them with conflict and anger management".

Endemol South Africa and M-Net will do well to - should there be further seasons of Big Brother Africa - work more vigorously with the selection and screening process and insert people in the camera house who have already mastered anger management as adults.

Clearly Endemol SA and M-Net allowed people in front of the cameras who are not strong enough to cope and who should not have been selected and included in this show.

BREAKING. ANC eyes TV sports rights, lucrative pay TV business in South Africa; wants more local TV content; IPTV for SABC.

The ruling ANC party in South Africa has its eye on TV sports rights in South Africa as well as the lucrative pay TV sector currently dominated by MultiChoice's DStv and M-Net as well as recent entrant TopTV.

With the SABC set start its own 24 hour SABC Sport TV channel as one of 15 new TV channels besides the current SABC1, SABC2 and SABC3 in the move to digital terrestrial television (DTT), the ruling ANC party is getting ready to talk about TV sports rights as well as pay TV competition in South Africa.

TV sports rights to the most watched and most lucrative local and international sport events which DStv, M-Net and SuperSport have sown up over many years will be coming under the spotlight next week at the ANC's policy conference taking place from 26 June at Gallagher Estate in Midrannd.


The ANC in its Communications Policy Discussion document drafted for the upcoming policy conference, says "there is a need to relook at the behaviour of the dominant players, access to premium content, including sports rights, and access to critical infrastructure by the competitors in this sector, to enable the entry of new pay TV services during the digital migration process, and new free-to-air players after the switchover in 2015".


Meanwhile broadcasters such as M-Net and e.tv have complained numerous times over the past few years, and this year again, to the broadcasting industry regulator, the Independent Broadcasting Communications Authority of South Africa (Icasa) about the government's long-delayed and constantly postponed digital migration process.


The broadcasters which have spent millions of rands over the past few years and will carry a heavy burden due to the switch-over when they're required to start broadcasting multiple new TV channels which will lead to further audience fragmentation, have implored Icasa not to licence new TV stations or pay TV operators until the digital migration process is complete.


They argue that new TV entrants in both free-to-air and the pay TV market will create an impossible situation within South Africa's TV industry where not enough advertising and revenue in the existing limited advertising stream would be available to maintain commercial services. 


Both e.tv and M-Net, similar to the SABC, will expand their number of TV channels which won't immediately be seen by millions of viewers who will have to buy set-top boxes (STBs) over a period of time. Meanwhile the existing broadcasters are complaining that the digital broadcasting frequency allocation under the DTT process which they all get - their part of the available spectrum which keeps decreasing - is also already not sufficient.


Besides TopTV none of the pay TV operators who were awarded and have pay TV licences in South Africa - e.Sat, Walking in Water (WoW) or Shenzhen Media SA (formerly Super 5 Media and Telkom Media) have started commercial pay TV services.


The ANC is now going to discuss "limited consumer choice due to limited competition in the telecoms and broadcasting markets, especially the pay TV market." The ANC's discussion document says Icasa's regulations of South Africa's pay TV market "has not produced the desired competition".


The ANC also wants larger local content requirements for South Africa's public broadcaster, saying in the document that a new broadcasting policy should "fast-track the local content development industry [and that a] review of local content quotas must be aligned to this strategy. This should culminate in a new, forward-looking broadcasting policy to coincide with switch-over by 2015."


"The public broadcasting system should not be allowed to lag behind the commercial sector in terms of technological innovations," says the ANC's Communications Policy Discussion document about the SABC. "Any future strategy of the SABC must position the broadcaster as a leader in the uptake and use of new technologies, including mobile television and internet protocol television."

BREAKING. SABC2 and 7de Laan found guilty by Broadcasting Complaints Commission for its too explicit portrayal of attempted suicide.

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SABC2 and its popular soap 7de Laan have been found guilty of contravening the Broadcasting Code of Conduct due to the explicit portrayal of a disturbing and drawn-out attempted suicide.

The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has ruled that "the threatening actions of the character were indeed too repetitive and graphic for the timeslot" and that "the suicide helpline number screened afterwards was of little or no use to traumatised children, and that the 13V advisory was not sufficient".

SABC2 and 7de Laan were slammed by the BCCSA, with the tribunal finding that the broadcaster "crossed over the 'family content' line" at a time when  large numbers of children can be expected to be a part of the audience. The complaints received were upheld by the BCCSA. SABC2 and 7de Laan were issued with a reprimand and the broadcaster cautioned to be even more careful with material that is broadcast during family time.

Applied media ethics dictates that suicides and attempted suicides get as little media exposure as possible, that reports about it are kept short and very basic, and that fictional accounts or portrayals not be "glamourised", overdramatised or be drawn-out.

Angry viewers complained to the BCCSA about the explicit portrayal of an attempted suicide in 7de Laan shown on 27 April, with someone saying that "I'm an adult person and I was very disturbed. It leaves a bitter taste in my mouth". Another complainant said the violence and scene of suicide consideration "is totally uncalled for in what is supposed to be a family show".

Another complainant said: "This is supposed to be a family show and is shown in family time. How can they show someone trying to committ suicide? I think it its incredibly pathetic."

Yet another complainant who called 7de Laan's attempted suicide "upsetting" and a "pathetic display" said: "I would like to know if Herman (the character played by actor Deon Coetzee) or the producer ever witnessed a real suicide? I lost a son to suicide. This was just a sensation-seeking of the worst kind and shows the producer's insensitivity. The actor and the producer should be severely reprimanded for taking advantage of such a serious and hurtful  situation. I suppose they're trying to upgrade the pathetic soapie."

The SABC responded by saying that it showed a suicide helpline number "for four seconds and five seconds respectively before the end credits". The SABC said it felt that "an advisory of PG13 V would be sufficient to alert sensitive viewers".

The BCCSA tribunal in its judgement found that the character's actions were indeed graphic, that scenes continued over two episodes, that the producers "admitted that the climax of the storyline was calculated to draw large audiences and to ensure that viewers tune in for the Monday episode".

"Television is a very powerful medium and witnessing violent scenes such as this may lead to severe emotional stress and anxiety in children," the BCCSA says in its judgement. "Although the visual depiction of such material may be central to the credibility of a storyline, it should be dealth with in a sensitive manner which is not too graphic."

"Broadcasters bear a heavy burden of responsibility in a country like South Africa where much emotional trauma is suffered because of acts of violence," reads the BCCSA judgement. "This makes it all the more important for them to take special care with storylines where the details are within their control, in contrast to news events, where its not."

"Younger children are very impressionable and do not dispose of established cognitive frameworks that would enable them to interpret violent psychological scenarios such as this one," the BCCSA finds. The Code of Conduct that broadcasters signed states that broadcasters are not allowed to "broadcast material which is harmful or disturbing to children at times when a large number of children are likely to be a part of the audience".

The BCCSA found that neither of SABC2's episodes of 7de Laan were suitable for children's viewing and that the 13V advisory was unrealistic and insufficient and that the "responsibility cannot, at that time of the evening, simply be shifted to parents".

SABC2 and 7de Laan weren't fined but found guilty of transgressing the code, reprimanded, and cautioned to be even more careful with material shown during family time.

BREAKING. TopTV and its Top Movies channel guilty of contravening Broadcasting Code with graphic movie; gets a serious warning.

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The South African pay TV operator Top TV (TopTV 100) has been found guilty of contravening the Broadcasting Code of Conduct for Subscription Broadcasting by broadcasting a movie, The Alarmist, which contains graphic sexual content, with a wrong and too low age restriction advisory and showing it way too early at 17:00.

Although TopTV has not been fined for the transgression of showing the movie with an incorrect age restriction and too early in the day, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission of South Africa (BCCSA) has given TopTV a stark warning in its judgement: "The error made in this case, should however, caution the broadcaster to take much more trouble in establishing what the guidance of the South African Film and Publication Board (FBP) is".

The FPB is responsible for rating all movies and providing a classification for films for South Africa.

TopTV in its response admitted that it didn't contact the South African Film and Publication Board (FPB) when it couldn't find an age classification and rating for the film online, and only contacted the FPB telephonically after the BCCSA and TopTV received the viewer complaint.

TopTV which applied its own rating of 13 LS, was told by the FPB that the movie carries the substantially higher 16 LS age restriction. TopTV then immediately re-rated the film by by then had already showed it.

"Where a broadcaster departs from a classification made by the FPB by making it less stringent, it must give very good reasons for such a departure," says the BCCSA in its judgement.

"Since the broadcaster immediately rectified the error after the complaint was received and conceded that it had made an error, we have decided that a reprimand will suffice," says the BCCSA in its judgement.

THE BEAUTIFUL GAME. The beautiful TV promo for Euro 2012 from BBC Sport.

The TV promo for Euro 2012 from BBC Sport is better than anything else I've seen from South African TV channels or internationally amongst all the broadcasters showing the Euro 2012.

Broadcasters all usually make their own bumpers and customise their on-screen coverage and graphics and build their own studios for big sport events.

CSI, Desperate Housewives, The Bold and the Beautiful and Al Jazeera wins Golden Nymph Awards at 52nd Monte Carlo TV Festival.

Very little changed from last year in terms of winners at the 52nd Monte Carlo TV Festival where the TV shows winning awards once again went to the American TV series sold worldwide such as CSI, Desperate Housewives and the soap The Bold and the Beautiful in the categories for best drama, best comedy and best TV soap for the 3rd year in a row.

Al Jazeera (TopTV 401 / DStv 406) won  for the documentary, Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark and Sky News (DStv 402) won two Golden Nymph Awards for best 24 hour news programme for "The Fall of Tripoli" with Alex Crawford and her team riding into Tripoli broadcasting live on the back of a truck. Sky News also won Best TV news item for Stuart Ramsay's report, "Inside Syria".

Two years ago CSI, Desperate Housewives, The Bold and the Beautiful and CNN won at the 50th Monte Carlo TV Festival. Last year, CSI, Desperate Housewives and The Bold and the Beautiful won at the 51st Monte Carlo TV Festival.

There were some new winners at the 52nd Monte Carlo TV Festival this year however. NHK (TopTV 406) won the best miniseries award for Yasu: Single Father's Story.

Game of Thrones seen on M-Net in South Africa won for best international producers.

Jason Priestly won for best actor in a comedy series for Call Me Fritz (seen in South Africa on Sony Max, DStv 126) and Tina Fey won for best actress in a comedy series for 30 Rock (seen in South Africa on M-Net and SABC3).

BREAKING. New shows, Lunch Money and Market Makers starting on Bloomberg Television ... today.

Two new weekday shows, Lunch Money and Market Makers is starting on Bloomberg Television (DStv 411) . . . today.

There's been no announcement but Lunch Money will kick off on Bloomberg Television today at 18:00 on weekdays.

Market Makers is also new on Bloomberg Television in America and which will also be seen in South Africa on the Bloomberg Television modified. Market Makers will be seen in South Africa at 16:00 on weekdays with Erik Schatzker and Stephanie Ruhle as the presenters.