by Inge Hansen (@mecnotabene) With 2015 off to a speedy start as expected, it’s with shock that most of us realise that February is upon us and our TV plans for mid-year need to be prepared soon. Making this a slightly more challenging proposition than normal are the changes that we will be seeing in TV programming and data in the coming months.
First major update to TAMS
The recent announcement from the recently launched Broadcast Research Council (BRC), about the TAMS universe update in February 2015 taking the TAMS universes from AMPS 2013A to AMPS 2014A, provides a challenge to planners and data crunchers. This will be the first major update to TAMS since 3 March 2014, when the universe was updated to reflect demographic updates from the 2011 South African National Census.
As recently selected source periods for TV plans in progress will not have reflected this data, adjustments to client expectations may have to be made, depending upon the chosen target demographic. This means that a close eye on audience viewership and changing habits will be necessary in the coming months to ensure delivery on anticipated ratings.
Our current viewership in terms of free-to-air television is also being affected by the programming schedule changes to SABC channels to accommodate the AFCON 2015 Cup and its associated programming. Continuing until the final on 8 February, this anticipated tournament is a television highlight for our soccer-mad audiences, who were disappointed at our national team’s departure on 27 January in a loss to Ghana.
Generations: The Legacy
Those looking closely at primetime viewing and requiring high reach will have been keeping track of the audience adoption of Generations: The Legacy, which returned to our screens in December 2014 with a new opening sequence, characters and storyline.
Following its debut at 23 GRPs and an adult audience of 7.5 million, a dip in viewership was observed in December, which has traditionally been an abnormal month for predictable viewing. As the year progresses into normal routines, especially for those families for whom group viewing is the norm, we will be able to follow how the new storyline is picked up by tv audiences.
Skeem Saam, which was moved into the primetime slot temporarily, has reverted back to its previous rating scale since moving back to the original 6.30pm time slot, despite having been well-received when it had aired at 8pm.
“Something big is coming to e.tv in 2015”
In addition, the industry has been seeing ongoing hints from e.tv since December with regards to “something big is coming to e.tv in 2015”, further teasing audiences with its hashtag #etv8PM on social media platforms. To date they have not formally confirmed information released from various sources as to the name of its new prime-time show, its local content or whether in fact they have hired former Generations cast members.
As it keeps everyone guessing, Channel24 reported that this is just part of e.tv’s major shakeup planned for 2015, whereby new primetime shows will be introduced during the year to ensure fresh content for audiences. In addition, some scheduling changes are expected in terms of its other popular shows, such as Rhythm City, to entice viewers to the channel and keep them from reaching for their remote with a well-fitting lead-out programme.
Therefore, just as we have a return to normality post AFCON 2015 and the TAMS update, the changes introduced by e.tv will provide yet more new terrain to the South African TV landscape. Coupled with the continued growth of Pay-TV and other viable options to consumers, indications are that appointment viewing and predictable audiences could be in for a change and, with this becoming the norm, the industry needs to strive to be flexible as a result.
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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