Removing Days of Our Lives was a bad move for SABC
The 80% local content on TV is proving to be disastrous for SABC, as the new shows fail to pull in viewers.
In May, the SA Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) announced it would play 90% local music across its radio stations. In a statement, the public broadcaster announced it met with various stakeholders in a bid to ensure prioritising more local content that reflected the diversity of South African cultures.
Not only was the SABC only focusing on music, the national broadcaster increased its local content on television to 80%, a move that seems to have backfired, according to TV critic Thinus Ferreira.
The SABC introduced local shows Divas of Jozi (replacing Survivor), Top Chef South Africa, The Sober Companion, Fun-Natix and Frontier Vets, to the new local weekday talk shows like Real Talk with Anele Mdoda, Jason Goliath‘s Larger Than Life and the panel talk show Trending.
Also viewership failures are Siv Ngesi’s Jou Ma se Chef and the new weekend edition of Expresso.
International shows were removed from the state broadcaster’s lineup and replaced with local content. The move saw SABC 3’s July ratings collapse, with viewership for all the new shows not having made the month’s top 20 most watched shows.
American daily soap Days of our Lives, which boasted more than 1 million viewers, according to the TAMS primetime rating figures, got the chop. However, its direct competitor, The Bold and the Beautiful, was saved, a moved that worked for the broadcaster, as the soap is still the most watched programme on SABC3.
It’s followed by the Chinese science fiction comedy film, CJ7, in second place with 1.2 million viewers, and then the weekday local soap Isidingo remaining in 3rd place with 1.17 million viewers.
Here is the list of top 20 highest-rated programmes on SABC3 in July:
1.The Bold and the Beautiful 1.55 million
2.CJ7 1.2 million
3.Isidingo 1.17 million
4.Jinxed 1.14 million
5.Filler: Winter on Air 1.145 million
6.Gourmet 1.142 million
7.Days of Our Lives 1.078 million
8.Places to Be 1.071 million
9.Places to Be (repeat) 976 406
10.English news 876 992
11.Wildest Africa 827 848
12.A Knight’s Tale 820 983
13.Afternoon Express 731 290
14.Click 679 119
15.The Sorcerer’s Apprentice 675 510
16.Spanglish 633 039
17.Top Billing 621 536
18.Fired Up 612 356
19.Filler 604 805
20.The Man Cave 597635
