by SAARF & MarkLives (@marklives) The week of 14 April — 20 April 2014 saw SABC 1 music talk show Zaziwa bounce from 11th to 6th place, the SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings national chart shows. Interestingly, the bounce was not replicated on the DStv chart, where the show only climbed one spot — from 21st to 20th. Selimathunzi jumped from no. 18 into the no. 9 slot.
This weekly roundup of South Africa’s TV audience viewership, a collaboration between the South African Audience Research Foundation (SAARF) and MarkLives, reveals the best-watched shows of the week before, where it ran and how many South Africans tuned in to watch.
We offer two tables, the first covering all households — free-to-air viewing (the various SABC channels and e.tv) as well as the DStv platform — and the second charting the best-watched shows on the DStv network of channels only.
SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings Chart: 14 April — 20 April 2014
| Market | Target | Activity | |||||
| National | Total Indv (incl guests) | Live + VOSDAL | |||||
| Counter | Description (grouped) | Channel | Level 1 | Level 2\Variable | (r) AMR % | AMR | SHR % |
| 1 | GENERATIONS | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 23.5 | 10 077 732 | 70.34% |
| 2 | AMAZA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 17.5 | 7 507 431 | 52.46% |
| 3 | NGEMPELA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 15.6 | 6 685 573 | 48.77% |
| 4 | LOXION LYRIC | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 14.8 | 6 330 488 | 45.07% |
| 5 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 13.2 | 5 641 840 | 45.93% |
| 6 | ZAZIWA | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 11.3 | 4 829 083 | 34.91% |
| 7 | SINGLE GALZ | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 10.9 | 4 680 721 | 32.94% |
| 8 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 10.8 | 4 629 780 | 36.01% |
| 9 | SELIMATHUNZI | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 10.7 | 4 590 786 | 33.43% |
| 10 | XHOSA NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 10.6 | 4 547 665 | 34.58% |
| 11 | ZULU NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 10.6 | 4 546 498 | 32.87% |
| 12 | RHYTHM CITY | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 10.2 | 4 356 852 | 35.48% |
| 13 | FAMILY BONDS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 10.0 | 4 273 567 | 35.74% |
| 14 | POWERBALL | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 9.8 | 4 202 156 | 42.78% |
| 15 | INTERSEXTIONS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 9.7 | 4 170 910 | 33.93% |
| 16 | SCANDAL | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 9.6 | 4 101 543 | 29.35% |
| 17 | THE PERFECT SISHEBO SHOW | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 9.4 | 4 027 764 | 30.71% |
| 18 | TASK FORCE(DRAMA) | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 9.2 | 3 949 962 | 31.27% |
| 19 | NEWS HEADLINES | SABC 1 | News | News | 8.3 | 3 572 463 | 26.85% |
| 20 | NYAN NYAN | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 7.3 | 3 124 853 | 28.99% |
| 21 | SPEAK OUT | SABC 2 | Actuality | Actuality | 7.0 | 3 007 842 | 31.48% |
| 22 | MEET DAVE | e.tv | Movies | Action/adventure | 6.9 | 2 952 339 | 29.59% |
| 23 | WWE WRESTLING RAW | e.tv | Sport | Wrestling | 6.8 | 2 936 350 | 31.16% |
| 24 | NEWS | e.tv | News | News | 6.7 | 2 885 884 | 22.31% |
| 25 | THOLA | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 6.6 | 2 830 480 | 35.50% |
| 26 | STOKVEL | SABC 2 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 6.2 | 2 680 605 | 27.24% |
| 27 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE -R | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 6.2 | 2 672 661 | 31.75% |
| 28 | MUVHANGO -R | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 6.0 | 2 558 275 | 48.23% |
| 29 | LOTTO DRAW LIVE | e.tv | Competition | Competition | 5.9 | 2 535 551 | 25.51% |
| 30 | EKASI:OUR STORIES TOUGH AT THE TOP | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 5.9 | 2 532 118 | 22.69% |
| 31 | FASTER | e.tv | Movies | Drama | 5.8 | 2 473 660 | 36.34% |
| 32 | GENERATIONS RETRO | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 5.7 | 2 441 405 | 20.10% |
| 33 | THE GOSPEL IN ME CONCERT -R | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 5.5 | 2 379 765 | 37.28% |
| 34 | MUVHANGO -R | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 5.5 | 2 362 637 | 32.82% |
| 35 | REAL GOBOZA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.5 | 2 349 894 | 25.98% |
| 36 | FAN BASE | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 5.5 | 2 342 399 | 25.78% |
| 37 | KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.4 | 2 305 355 | 20.69% |
| 38 | CAF CONFEDERATION CUP 2014 :KAIZER CHIEFS VS ASEC MIMOSAS | SABC 1 | Sport | Football (soccer) | 5.3 | 2 295 030 | 28.36% |
| 39 | YOU DESERVE IT. | e.tv | Reality | Reality | 5.3 | 2 294 926 | 21.96% |
| 40 | THE LINK (MAGA) | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.3 | 2 293 329 | 21.75% |
DStv platform only
| Market | Target | Activity | |||||
| DStv | Total Indv (incl guests) | Live + VOSDAL | |||||
| Counter | Description (grouped) | Channel | Level 1 | Level 2\Variable | (r) AMR % | AMR | SHR % |
| 1 | GENERATIONS | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 16.1 | 2 174 859 | 47.34% |
| 2 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 10.4 | 1 403 298 | 33.93% |
| 3 | ISIBAYA | Mzansi Magic | Variety | Variety | 8.0 | 1 075 046 | 23.84% |
| 4 | POWERBALL | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 6.6 | 889 621 | 24.78% |
| 5 | RHYTHM CITY | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 6.3 | 855 395 | 20.99% |
| 6 | AMAZA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.9 | 803 974 | 17.37% |
| 7 | SCANDAL | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 5.7 | 771 037 | 17.16% |
| 8 | SPEAK OUT | SABC 2 | Actuality | Actuality | 5.6 | 763 420 | 21.78% |
| 9 | XHOSA NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 5.6 | 754 344 | 17.34% |
| 10 | ZULU NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 5.5 | 743 355 | 16.72% |
| 11 | NGEMPELA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.1 | 691 594 | 14.56% |
| 12 | NEWS | e.tv | News | News | 4.8 | 646 517 | 15.08% |
| 13 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 4.6 | 618 602 | 13.64% |
| 14 | LOXION LYRIC | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 4.4 | 593 066 | 13.39% |
| 15 | SELIMATHUNZI | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 4.0 | 535 609 | 11.86% |
| 16 | WWE WRESTLING RAW | e.tv | Sport | Wrestling | 3.7 | 494 158 | 13.96% |
| 17 | SINGLE GALZ | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 3.6 | 489 510 | 10.59% |
| 18 | 7DE LAAN | SABC 2 | Soap opera | Local | 3.6 | 484 931 | 11.94% |
| 19 | FAMILY BONDS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.5 | 475 844 | 12.15% |
| 20 | ZAZIWA | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 3.4 | 458 840 | 10.57% |
| 21 | MEET DAVE | e.tv | Movies | Action/adventure | 3.4 | 457 854 | 12.95% |
| 22 | KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 3.3 | 445 550 | 12.24% |
| 23 | THOLA | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 3.3 | 441 939 | 14.72% |
| 24 | INTERSEXTIONS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.2 | 430 469 | 10.39% |
| 25 | NYAN NYAN | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 3.2 | 430 078 | 11.49% |
| 26 | MUVHANGO -R | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.1 | 423 449 | 22.45% |
| 27 | CAF CONFEDERATION CUP 2014 :KAIZER CHIEFS VS ASEC MIMOSAS | SABC 1 | Sport | Football (soccer) | 3.1 | 422 381 | 13.17% |
| 28 | TASK FORCE(DRAMA) | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.1 | 417 511 | 9.69% |
| 29 | THE PERFECT SISHEBO SHOW | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 3.1 | 417 311 | 9.72% |
| 30 | GENERATIONS -R | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 3.0 | 400 531 | 23.04% |
| 31 | NEWS HEADLINES | SABC 1 | News | News | 2.9 | 386 948 | 8.96% |
| 32 | NUUS | SABC 2 | News | News | 2.8 | 376 077 | 9.11% |
| 33 | VODACOM MILLIONAIRES | e.tv | Competition | Competition | 2.7 | 363 276 | 9.32% |
| 34 | STOKVEL | SABC 2 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 2.6 | 356 167 | 10.94% |
| 35 | THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL | SABC 3 | Soap opera | International | 2.6 | 353 056 | 9.86% |
| 36 | LOTTO DRAW LIVE | e.tv | Competition | Competition | 2.6 | 346 241 | 10.20% |
| 37 | EKASI:OUR STORIES TOUGH AT THE TOP | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 2.6 | 345 735 | 9.51% |
| 38 | SOCCER ZONE | SABC 1 | Sport | Football (soccer) | 2.5 | 342 808 | 9.77% |
| 39 | NOOT VIR NOOT | SABC 2 | Music | Music | 2.5 | 337 477 | 8.07% |
| 40 | VODACOM SUPER RUGBY 2014 STORMERS VS LIONS | SuperSport 1 | Sport | Rugby (all) | 2.5 | 332 226 | 10.11% |
How to read the tables:
AMR% refers to the number of people in a target market who were watching an event ie programme, expressed as a percentage of the population for that demographic: “On average, 16.3% of adults aged 15+ who watched TV from 28 Jan-3 Feb 2014 watched Society on SABC 1”.
AMR is the number of people in a target market watching a specific event ie programme per minute, expressed in absolute figures: “On average, 1, 541, 066 adults aged 15+ who watched TV from from28 Jan-3 Feb 2014 watched Society on SABC 1”.
Share % (SHR %) is the share or proportion of the available audience (people watching TV at that time) that a specific channel/programme has achieved at that time: “Society achieved a share % of 52.59% from 28 Jan- 3 Feb 2014 on SABC 1″.
SAARF is the name by which the South African Audience Research Foundation is familiarly known. SAARF’s main objective is to direct and publish media audience and product/brand research for the benefit of its stake-holders, thereby providing data for target marketing and a common currency for the buying and selling of media space and time. SAARF has thus the responsibility to measure the audiences of all traditional media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cinema and out of home media.
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