by SAARF & MarkLives (@marklives) Surprisingly (or not, depending upon your level of cynicism), drama and not election news appeared to rule most of the Top 10 during the week of 5 — 11 May 2014, our SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings national chart shows, although SABC 1’s Zulu News did climb from the 14th to the eighth spot, and SABC 1’s Xhosa News went from tenth to ninth.
On our DStv chart, Zulu News moved from 14th to 5th, and Xhosa News from eighth to seventh.
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: 5 — 11 May 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 | 24.0 | 10 295 497 | 70.44% |
| 2 | NGEMPELA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 16.3 | 6 982 290 | 50.64% |
| 3 | AMAZA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 15.8 | 6 775 614 | 50.26% |
| 4 | LOXION LYRIC | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 13.9 | 5 967 512 | 43.83% |
| 5 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 12.4 | 5 316 906 | 43.35% |
| 6 | INTERSEXTIONS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 11.9 | 5 110 200 | 38.52% |
| 7 | FAMILY BONDS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 11.5 | 4 942 409 | 37.23% |
| 8 | ZULU NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 11.2 | 4 801 618 | 33.98% |
| 9 | XHOSA NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 11.1 | 4 772 863 | 34.54% |
| 10 | RHYTHM CITY | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 10.5 | 4 506 588 | 35.11% |
| 11 | TASK FORCE(Drama) | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 10.4 | 4 480 274 | 33.37% |
| 12 | SELIMATHUNZI | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 10.4 | 4 478 299 | 32.55% |
| 13 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 10.4 | 4 470 747 | 34.96% |
| 14 | SINGLE GALZ | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 10.2 | 4 372 864 | 31.62% |
| 15 | ZAZIWA | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 9.8 | 4 194 730 | 31.88% |
| 16 | SCANDAL | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 9.6 | 4 128 990 | 28.82% |
| 17 | POWERBALL | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 9.4 | 4 043 757 | 38.10% |
| 18 | THE PERFECT SISHEBO SHOW | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 8.8 | 3 768 266 | 26.91% |
| 19 | NEWS HEADLINES | SABC 1 | News | News | 7.9 | 3 374 644 | 25.46% |
| 20 | REAL GOBOZA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 7.6 | 3 239 705 | 28.76% |
| 21 | THOLA | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 7.4 | 3 166 894 | 35.52% |
| 22 | NYAN NYAN | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 7.2 | 3 090 389 | 28.08% |
| 23 | NEWS | e.tv | News | News | 7.1 | 3 048 564 | 22.72% |
| 24 | FAN BASE | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 6.9 | 2 938 953 | 27.11% |
| 25 | WWE WRESTLING RAW | e.tv | Sport | Wrestling | 6.8 | 2 911 122 | 30.23% |
| 26 | LOTTO DRAW LIVE | e.tv | Competition | Competition | 6.3 | 2 712 562 | 26.19% |
| 27 | OH SHUCKS I’M GATVOL | e.tv | Movies | Comedy | 6.2 | 2 649 902 | 24.66% |
| 28 | DI WELE MAKGOLELA | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 6.1 | 2 622 370 | 28.07% |
| 29 | EKASI OUR STORIES UMAKOTI NOMKHWENYANE | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 6.1 | 2 620 595 | 24.17% |
| 30 | THE NEXT KARATE KID | e.tv | Movies | Drama | 6.0 | 2 587 327 | 30.51% |
| 31 | SPEAK OUT | SABC 2 | Actuality | Actuality | 6.0 | 2 567 152 | 25.81% |
| 32 | THE MATING GAME | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.9 | 2 530 906 | 35.36% |
| 33 | ELECTION DEBATE | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 5.9 | 2 527 218 | 21.54% |
| 34 | THE LINK (MAGA) | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.6 | 2 417 742 | 22.19% |
| 35 | 20TH ANNUAL SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC AWARDS | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 5.6 | 2 413 775 | 27.10% |
| 36 | GENERATIONS RETRO | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 5.6 | 2 404 705 | 18.69% |
| 37 | TROPICA ISLAND OF TREASURE | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 5.6 | 2 400 312 | 21.12% |
| 38 | CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY | SABC 1 | Movies | Drama | 5.6 | 2 398 291 | 21.34% |
| 39 | 7DE LAAN | SABC 2 | Soap opera | Local | 5.5 | 2 359 494 | 18.47% |
| 40 | KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.5 | 2 339 727 | 21.07% |
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 | 16.8 | 2 264 931 | 48.43% |
| 2 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 8.6 | 1 162 070 | 28.62% |
| 3 | ISIBAYA | Mzansi Magic | Variety | Variety | 7.7 | 1 034 545 | 23.09% |
| 4 | RHYTHM CITY | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 6.9 | 929 488 | 21.57% |
| 5 | ZULU NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 6.8 | 922 966 | 20.18% |
| 6 | SCANDAL | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 6.0 | 812 903 | 17.60% |
| 7 | XHOSA NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 5.7 | 769 044 | 17.10% |
| 8 | AMAZA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.4 | 725 618 | 16.18% |
| 9 | NEWS | e.tv | News | News | 5.3 | 709 702 | 15.94% |
| 10 | POWERBALL | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 4.9 | 658 120 | 17.32% |
| 11 | LOXION LYRIC | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 4.8 | 647 005 | 14.71% |
| 12 | NGEMPELA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 4.5 | 603 716 | 12.99% |
| 13 | FAMILY BONDS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 4.4 | 599 668 | 14.06% |
| 14 | INTERSEXTIONS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 4.4 | 588 410 | 13.20% |
| 15 | 7DE LAAN | SABC 2 | Soap opera | Local | 4.3 | 587 031 | 13.67% |
| 16 | SPEAK OUT | SABC 2 | Actuality | Actuality | 4.3 | 577 007 | 18.52% |
| 17 | NYAN NYAN | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 3.8 | 510 704 | 13.34% |
| 18 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 3.6 | 488 755 | 11.39% |
| 19 | SELIMATHUNZI | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 3.5 | 478 468 | 10.80% |
| 20 | 20TH ANNUAL SOUTH AFRICAN MUSIC AWARDS | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 3.4 | 460 612 | 14.83% |
| 21 | ZAZIWA | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 3.4 | 460 377 | 10.11% |
| 22 | KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 3.3 | 452 155 | 12.36% |
| 23 | NUUS | SABC 2 | News | News | 3.3 | 450 199 | 10.17% |
| 24 | SINGLE GALZ | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 3.3 | 449 766 | 9.77% |
| 25 | MUVHANGO -R | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.2 | 436 596 | 23.66% |
| 26 | WWE WRESTLING RAW | e.tv | Sport | Wrestling | 3.2 | 432 488 | 11.89% |
| 27 | ABSA PREMIERSHIP MAMELODI SUNDOWNS VS SUPERSPSORT UNITED | SuperSport 4 | Sport | Football (soccer) | 3.2 | 430 118 | 10.54% |
| 28 | LOTTO DRAW LIVE | e.tv | Competition | Competition | 3.1 | 418 911 | 11.82% |
| 29 | THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL | SABC 3 | Soap opera | International | 3.1 | 418 394 | 10.90% |
| 30 | STOKVEL | SABC 2 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 3.1 | 415 534 | 12.80% |
| 31 | NOOT VIR NOOT | SABC 2 | Music | Music | 3.0 | 402 987 | 9.00% |
| 32 | CRY THE BELOVED COUNTRY | SABC 1 | Movies | Drama | 3.0 | 400 700 | 10.49% |
| 33 | DI WELE MAKGOLELA | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 2.9 | 396 881 | 12.36% |
| 34 | THOLA | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 2.9 | 390 776 | 11.37% |
| 35 | THE PERFECT SISHEBO SHOW | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 2.8 | 383 364 | 8.25% |
| 36 | GENERATIONS -R | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 2.8 | 382 395 | 22.21% |
| 37 | SWARTWATER | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 2.8 | 379 186 | 8.07% |
| 38 | OH SHUCKS I’M GATVOL | e.tv | Movies | Comedy | 2.8 | 378 059 | 11.28% |
| 39 | PASELLA | SABC 2 | Magazine | Magazine | 2.7 | 371 435 | 8.01% |
| 40 | NEWS HEADLINES | SABC 1 | News | News | 2.7 | 366 743 | 8.43% |
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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