by Inge Hansen (@mecnotabene) The origin of soap operas began in the 1930s, when radio stations devised a series of dramatic broadcast episodes aimed at housewives, initially sponsored by soap manufacturing companies such as Procter & Gamble. The success of these on radio soon reached television sets once they were entrenched in the home and daily life, providing advertisers with the opportunity to reach their audience visually.
The objective of the soap operas from decades ago is still the same today: to create programming that attracts the viewers who are the main decision-makers or purchasers of household goods.
While, in the US soapies, are in an overall viewership decline, from a South African perspective, it’s no surprise that local content can win the hearts of our viewers as the plots weave through the daily struggles of predominantly family-centred dramas.
AMPS research is able to provide us with the insight that our population is slowly moving up the scale with increased purchasing power and living standards, which indicates that a large portion of consumers identify with the realities of working-class life. According to the below graph depicting our segmentation, the largest LSM group within our population is LSM 6, which on average equates to a monthly household income of R7 391 and a personal income of R3 909.
LSMs, however, are not representative of the dreams and goals that fuel consumers to achieve, which they can find reflected in their daily drama fix.
In the decades prior to when soap operas surfaced, the purchasing of everyday goods may have been a predominantly female responsibility; in SA, our purchasing matrix is more complex. This is due to our family units not being the traditional matrix of two parents and 2.5 children, and may often include extended family members who play a role in the decision-making process.
In addition, with the number of social grants for 2015 sitting at 16.7m, there are multiple dynamics in play regarding how household money is spent. These factors play into the hands of local productions and marketers, as family viewing can be common in lower-income households.
Locally, our numbers remain strong as consumers continue to be attracted to our soapies’ storylines, with viewers more recently being spoilt for choice. Local soaps have the advantage in terms of news in that, thanks to production lead times, current affairs may be addressed by characters within the plot.
Relevance is key and therefore our longstanding soaps have to hit home with audiences, and often reflect topical issues to give viewers information on how to handle tough circumstances, eg when soaps broke through the boundaries around AIDS or, more recently, xenophobia. Also tying in with our unique audiences is the strong theme of aspiration, knitted into the central themes of mining, taxi empires, business and coming-of-age stories.
Looking at the viewership patterns over time, we may see the effect that audience fragmentation has had; this is set to accelerate among the higher-income groups with new over-the-top (OTT) options launching.
But, overall, our local dramas continue to rule supreme, with even more local content featuring in the top 10 programmes (grouped) in August 2015, than in August 2009. By comparison, international soaps such as The Bold and the Beautiful fall well outside of the top-watched programmes, at under 5 GRPs against adults.
| Activity | Target | Market | Activity | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live + VOSDAL | Adults Age 15+ | National | Live + VOSDAL | ||||
| Adults 15+ | August 2009 | Adults 15+ | August 2015 | ||||
| Programme | GRP | Reach | SHR % | Programme | GRP | Reach | SHR % |
| GENERATIONS | 26.2 | 6 494 678 | 62.37% | UZALO | 21.4 | 7 071 666 | 61.11% |
| MONTANA | 20.1 | 4 978 612 | 49.45% | GENERATIONS THE LEGACY | 20.4 | 6 707 220 | 58.37% |
| ZONE 14 | 19.4 | 4 811 728 | 47.93% | SKEEM SAAM | 17.6 | 5 785 773 | 55.71% |
| ROMEO MUST DIE | 18.4 | 4 545 301 | 53.29% | MUVHANGO | 14.8 | 4 875 936 | 48.83% |
| JIKA MA JIKA | 17.4 | 4 302 565 | 42.40% | TEMPY PUSHAS | 14.7 | 4 843 297 | 46.55% |
| ZULU NEWS | 16.8 | 4 157 373 | 41.47% | SCANDAL | 12.1 | 4 000 729 | 35.39% |
| ENTABENI | 16.5 | 4 094 559 | 42.43% | VODACOM YEBO MILLIONAIRES | 11.9 | 3 902 773 | 42.36% |
| SO YOU THINK YOU ARE FUNNY | 16.2 | 4 000 554 | 40.28% | SINGLE GALZ | 10.0 | 3 289 884 | 27.52% |
| 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS | 15.7 | 3 898 344 | 45.00% | RHYTHM CITY | 9.8 | 3 228 697 | 29.15% |
| ZOLA 7 | 15.6 | 3 865 052 | 39.38% | ZAZIWA | 9.6 | 3 171 057 | 28.59% |
Off the back of this accomplishment is the recent launch of e.tv’s new telenovela, Gold Diggers, which replaced the well-received Ashes to Ashes mid-August. Although its initial episodes did not garner as many viewers as the Ashes to Ashes, Gold Diggers has launched at a time when some return to appointment viewing has occurred after the return of Generations, The Legacy. Broadcast in a competitive timeslot, time will tell if viewers get caught up in the story of illegal gold mining and family intrigue, providing another viable spot for advertiser rands.
In keeping it fresh, perhaps our North American counterparts could take a page out of our book with the recent success of the localised and often vernacular telenovela, first made popular in South America. This is shown in the success of SABC 1’s Uzalo, which is broadcast in Zulu and has seen consistently high viewership in 2015, enjoying the top spot for August ratings against adults. While the Young and the Restless has been running for 40 years, viewers may look forward to a tumultuous ending with a telenovela, ensuring they stay tuned in for longer.
Sources:
- AMPS Main Branded AB (Jan–Dec 2009 vs Jan–Dec 2014), Arianna Programmes August 2009 vs August 2015, SASSA.gov.za
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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