by Inge Hansen (@mecnotabene) The recent announcement of the interim replacement of Generations with Skeem Saam is an interesting shift for a number of reasons:
- Skeem Saam has become an established daily drama-turned-soapie, which is currently over-performing in its current timeslot of 6.30pm-7pm.
- The drama focuses on three young male protagonists who are coming of age in a Limpopo township and their life experiences, which speaks to local relevance.
So why is this important?
Contrary to what the intellectual description of some TV programming may have you believing, as a society we generally watch TV for entertainment or to escape and engross ourselves in something other than our daily routine.
In order to deliver on this escapism, programming generally trends towards an offering which is orientated towards women. Locally, our television audience will naturally skew to delivering to a female audience, in line with our population.
Makes economic sense
For advertisers, this is good news as women make up 65% of all adult household decision-makers, and advertisers use television to build rapid reach and mass awareness to communicate with as many viewers as possible. Hence it makes economic sense for broadcasters to attract female viewership to their selection of programming.
An indication of this in action would the launch in July 2014 of the Lifetime channel in South Africa and the continuation of Africa on DStv (Channel 131). The channel was launched by DStv to provide a “female-centric entertainment channel” which would provide increased choices for female viewers in the drama, made-for-TV movie and reality spheres.
In addition, we have seen growth in the viewership of channels offering predominantly female interest shows, such as Telemundo.
Engineered to appeal
While the programming offered to us to deliver this kind entertainment may appear to be engineered to appeal to either men or women, do viewers adhere to this segmentation across the board or do they enjoy programming regardless of gender bias?
In terms of viewing behaviour, women tend to be heavier viewers (4+ hours), at 54% of Adults, as compared to 46.8% of men. This may speak to binge viewing, assisted by DStv Catch Up and PVR, or watching an Omnibus of their favourite shows, at a more convenient time ie when the children are asleep, or on the weekend.
Correspondingly, August 2014 TV viewing times for women are stronger in the late morning and early afternoon than men, as the likelihood of women being at home during the day is higher. Peak viewing times, however, correspond (for both genders) with the broadcast time of South Africa’s most popular soap, Generations (on air from 8pm to 8.30pm).
High occurrence of family viewing
A contributing factor to this alignment in viewing patterns would also be the high occurrence of family viewing that exists locally.
We therefore see little difference in the mix of the Top 10 Programmes for August 2014, between adult male and female viewers, although the weight of the audience does differ. This shows that, in some instances, men do watch soapies and women also enjoy watching sport — which may change as we look at the more niche offering on Pay TV channels.
Top 10 Programmes for August 2014
| Market | Activity | |||
| National | Live + VOSDAL | |||
| Counter | Programme | Channel | Female Gender Profile | Male Gender Profile |
| 1 | GENERATIONS | SABC 1 | 56.98% | 43.02% |
| 2 | MFOLOZI STREET | SABC 1 | 55.90% | 44.10% |
| 3 | SOUL CITY | SABC 1 | 58.00% | 42.00% |
| 4 | STICKS AND STONES | SABC 1 | 58.50% | 41.50% |
| 5 | MR BONES | SABC 1 | 56.75% | 43.25% |
| 6 | SHREDS AND DREAMS | SABC 1 | 57.92% | 42.08% |
| 7 | MR BONES 2:BACK FROM THE PAST | SABC 1 | 52.77% | 47.23% |
| 8 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | 60.13% | 39.87% |
| 9 | ABSA PREMIERSHIP MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS ORLANDO PIRATES | SABC 1 | 51.46% | 48.54% |
| 10 | MAMA JACK | SABC 1 | 56.32% | 43.68% |
With the most recent population update, it is evident for both genders that TVRs and viewership have declined, most substantially in the 15-24 age group. With male viewers of this age, in particular, this could also speak to the rise in alternatives to broadcast TV that are increasingly accessible ie social media, video on demand, YouTube and instant messaging.
Gender shift towards a male bias
Young men will be increasingly important going forward, as the latest census has shown a gender shift towards a male bias in this age group. As this change occurs, will viewers continue to watch out of habit and will audiences continue to follow the programme in a new timeslot when Generations returns?
In the meantime, media planners will have to rely on past performances to make decisions on where to put their clients’ brands to deliver the expected returns, until audiences vote with their remotes.
To find out what happens during the ‘Generations coma’, monitor our
weekly SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings column,
a roundup of SA’s TV audience viewership over the previous week, published every Thursday
Sources:
- Adweek: What Women Watch on TV: Their viewing habits may surprise you
- AMPS 2013 Six Months (Jul 2013-Dec 2013)
- Channel24: SABC says goodbye to Generations… for now
- Arianna Dayparts & Programmes
Following two years at Media24 scrubbing for insights within the magazine division, Inge Hansen joined Nota Bene as an A&I analyst in March 2013. Working across multiple clients, including FMCG, alcohol and petroleum, she has the luxury of working with teams to develop robust insights that drive strategy while keeping abreast of media trends the world over. Inge loves having her pulse on the media landscape but far prefers raising her pulse mountain-biking on weekends. She contributes Thinking TV, a monthly analysis of South African TV viewership figures, to MarkLives. Follow @mecnotabene for regular media updates.
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