by SAARF & MarkLives (@marklives) The week of 21 April — 27 April 2014 shows two news broadcasts entering the SAARF/MarkLives #Top40TVratings Top 10, our national chart shows. News broadcasts in isiZulu, isiXhosa and news headlines on SABC 1 all gained in audience figures. On the DStv chart News in Afrikaans also gained viewers, even as it slipped in the rankings and as national and provincial elections close in on 7 May.
Afrikaans soapie 7de Laan also entered our Top 40 listing.
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: 21 April — 27 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 | 24.4 | 10 475 408 | 72.35% |
| 2 | NGEMPELA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 16.9 | 7 256 628 | 53.19% |
| 3 | AMAZA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 15.4 | 6 616 217 | 49.41% |
| 4 | LOXION LYRIC | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 13.2 | 5 652 885 | 42.65% |
| 5 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 12.9 | 5 525 777 | 45.53% |
| 6 | INTERSEXTIONS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 12.5 | 5 378 626 | 39.98% |
| 7 | FAMILY BONDS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 11.8 | 5 077 159 | 38.01% |
| 8 | ZULU NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 11.5 | 4 922 315 | 34.99% |
| 9 | XHOSA NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 10.9 | 4 657 072 | 35.04% |
| 10 | TASK FORCE(DRAMA) | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 10.8 | 4 652 067 | 36.84% |
| 11 | RHYTHM CITY | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 10.7 | 4 592 902 | 36.80% |
| 12 | ZAZIWA | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 10.7 | 4 570 549 | 34.00% |
| 13 | SINGLE GALZ | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 10.3 | 4 410 052 | 32.98% |
| 14 | SELIMATHUNZI | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 10.1 | 4 316 221 | 32.00% |
| 15 | SCANDAL | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 9.9 | 4 254 108 | 30.26% |
| 16 | THE PERFECT SISHEBO SHOW | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 9.6 | 4 099 151 | 30.51% |
| 17 | POWERBALL | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 8.9 | 3 812 317 | 37.47% |
| 18 | NEWS HEADLINES | SABC 1 | News | News | 8.9 | 3 796 909 | 28.88% |
| 19 | WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXX | e.tv | Sport | Wrestling | 7.8 | 3 362 511 | 42.94% |
| 20 | SPEAK OUT | SABC 2 | Actuality | Actuality | 7.7 | 3 322 867 | 36.14% |
| 21 | REAL GOBOZA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 7.5 | 3 224 209 | 31.52% |
| 22 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE -R | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 7.4 | 3 183 498 | 38.46% |
| 23 | ISIBOSHWA | SABC 1 | Movies | Drama | 6.6 | 2 842 179 | 27.86% |
| 24 | ELECTION DEBATE | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 6.6 | 2 828 422 | 25.64% |
| 25 | NYAN NYAN | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 6.5 | 2 770 636 | 26.76% |
| 26 | NEWS | e.tv | News | News | 6.4 | 2 764 934 | 22.03% |
| 27 | THOLA | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 6.3 | 2 687 819 | 33.07% |
| 28 | DI WELE MAKGOLELA | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 6.2 | 2 670 557 | 29.62% |
| 29 | LIVE AMP | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 6.0 | 2 586 914 | 22.66% |
| 30 | FAN BASE | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 6.0 | 2 576 097 | 25.66% |
| 31 | MUVHANGO -R | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.9 | 2 550 637 | 49.56% |
| 32 | EKASI OUR STORIES:MALANKANE | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 5.8 | 2 508 213 | 23.60% |
| 33 | GENERATIONS RETRO | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 5.8 | 2 505 131 | 19.90% |
| 34 | GRIDIRON GANG | e.tv | Movies | Drama | 5.4 | 2 335 610 | 30.20% |
| 35 | THE LINK (MAGA) | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.4 | 2 332 085 | 21.65% |
| 36 | KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 5.4 | 2 313 316 | 22.54% |
| 37 | THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL | SABC 3 | Soap opera | International | 5.4 | 2 305 713 | 22.19% |
| 38 | SKWIZAS | SABC 2 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 5.4 | 2 296 788 | 18.96% |
| 39 | 7DE LAAN | SABC 2 | Soap opera | Local | 5.3 | 2 292 185 | 18.40% |
| 40 | EMZINI WEZINSIZWA -R | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 5.2 | 2 239 501 | 47.51% |
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 | 18.4 | 2 481 430 | 52.08% |
| 2 | MUVHANGO | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 10.4 | 1 404 025 | 33.84% |
| 3 | RHYTHM CITY | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 7.7 | 1 040 549 | 24.23% |
| 4 | ISIBAYA | Mzansi Magic | Variety | Variety | 7.6 | 1 020 554 | 22.19% |
| 5 | NGEMPELA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 7.2 | 967 924 | 21.41% |
| 6 | ZULU NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 6.9 | 935 525 | 19.97% |
| 7 | SCANDAL | e.tv | Drama | Drama | 6.7 | 905 320 | 19.49% |
| 8 | XHOSA NEWS | SABC 1 | News | News | 6.6 | 885 189 | 20.08% |
| 9 | SPEAK OUT | SABC 2 | Actuality | Actuality | 6.5 | 875 492 | 26.06% |
| 10 | POWERBALL | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 6.0 | 816 114 | 22.45% |
| 11 | AMAZA | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 6.0 | 811 598 | 17.33% |
| 12 | INTERSEXTIONS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.0 | 675 858 | 15.10% |
| 13 | LOXION LYRIC | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 5.0 | 673 296 | 14.82% |
| 14 | NEWS | e.tv | News | News | 4.9 | 667 593 | 15.55% |
| 15 | FAMILY BONDS | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 4.9 | 655 952 | 15.49% |
| 16 | SELIMATHUNZI | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 4.7 | 637 850 | 14.26% |
| 17 | ZAZIWA | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 4.3 | 586 328 | 12.98% |
| 18 | SINGLE GALZ | SABC 1 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 4.3 | 576 009 | 12.24% |
| 19 | WWE WRESTLEMANIA XXX | e.tv | Sport | Wrestling | 4.1 | 560 227 | 19.17% |
| 20 | TASK FORCE(DRAMA) | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.9 | 524 095 | 12.20% |
| 21 | 7DE LAAN | SABC 2 | Soap opera | Local | 3.9 | 522 089 | 12.18% |
| 22 | THE PERFECT SISHEBO SHOW | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 3.7 | 504 479 | 11.11% |
| 23 | KHUMBUL’ EKHAYA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 3.6 | 493 061 | 13.45% |
| 24 | DI WELE MAKGOLELA | SABC 2 | Variety | Variety | 3.6 | 487 128 | 14.45% |
| 25 | VODACOM MILLIONAIRES | e.tv | Competition | Competition | 3.5 | 472 573 | 11.86% |
| 26 | THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL | SABC 3 | Soap opera | International | 3.5 | 466 899 | 12.38% |
| 27 | TRANSPORTER 2 | Mzansi Magic | Movies | Action/adventure | 3.4 | 458 309 | 11.75% |
| 28 | NEWS HEADLINES | SABC 1 | News | News | 3.3 | 446 082 | 9.85% |
| 29 | MUVHANGO -R | SABC 1 | Drama | Drama | 3.2 | 439 156 | 23.39% |
| 30 | THOLA | SABC 2 | Drama | Drama | 3.2 | 426 203 | 14.79% |
| 31 | GENERATIONS -R | SABC 1 | Soap opera | Local | 3.0 | 412 114 | 23.32% |
| 32 | NYAN NYAN | SABC 1 | Reality | Reality | 3.0 | 412 099 | 11.10% |
| 33 | REAL GOBOZA | SABC 1 | Magazine | Magazine | 3.0 | 405 864 | 10.63% |
| 34 | FRIENDS LIKE THESE -R | SABC 1 | Variety | Variety | 3.0 | 404 737 | 13.75% |
| 35 | NUUS | SABC 2 | News | News | 2.9 | 388 512 | 9.03% |
| 36 | STOKVEL | SABC 2 | Sitcom | Sitcom | 2.9 | 386 465 | 11.49% |
| 37 | BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE LIVERPOOL VS CHELSEA | SuperSport 3 | Sport | Football (soccer) | 2.8 | 375 711 | 11.75% |
| 38 | FAN BASE | SABC 1 | Music | Music | 2.7 | 371 209 | 10.60% |
| 39 | OUR PERFECT WEDDING (MAG) | Mzansi Magic | Magazine | Magazine | 2.7 | 365 370 | 8.33% |
| 40 | VODACOM SUPER RUGBY 2014 CHEETAHS VS STORMERS | SuperSport 1 | Sport | Rugby (all) | 2.7 | 362 135 | 9.98% |
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.
— MarkLives’ round-up of top ad and media industry news and opinion in your mailbox every three work days. Sign up here!