by Inge Hansen (@mecnotabene) Over the years, there have been various success stories in producing local versions of popular international reality-TV shows. These hot shows have paved the way for M-Net to invest in the new South African version of The Voice, which makes us the 60th country world-wide to do so.
The audience for this type of entertainment was paved by shows at the advent of reality TV, such as Pop Idol in the UK, which was followed by similar musical showcases such as America’s Got Talent and The X-Factor. These shows draw in viewers and give them a glimpse into the lives of celebrities and music moguls outside of a scripted environment and allow viewers to cheer on their favourite contestants to achieving their dream.
Reached new potential
This speaks to the accomplishment of Idols SA reaching the milestone of Season 12, with auditions having been underway until March 2016. With the dual screening on M-Net and Mzansi Magic since season 7, Idols SA has expanded its audience and reached new potential. This was evident as season 11 drew to a close, and the show announced that it had broken its own record for the number of SMS votes received, at 78m.
Hopes are therefore high for The Voice South Africa, as a reality show where the appearance and personality of the person about to take the stage matters less than the power and ability of their voice; a varied and unexpected pool of talent is sure to be showcased. And in charge of developing this talent and showing viewers another side of their celebrity character are the coaches, who have the ability to make or break this globally popular show.
The US episodes that most viewers would have been exposed to before the SA version kicked off in January on M-Net 101 (Sundays at 5.30pm) have been led by serious music industry icons, including Christina Aguilera, Adam Levine, Usher, Pharrell Williams and Gwen Stefani, to name just a few. This power combo has contributed to the huge popularity of the show, with the finale of Season 9 in the US having had over 14m viewers (age 18–49) tuning in to see if their favourite contestant would win the US$100 000 cash prize, complete with their own record deal.
Diversity of musical knowledge
The Voice South Africa coaches, who are in a race to produce the ultimate winner themselves, are Lira, Karen Zoid, Bobby van Jaarsveld and Kahn Morbee, providing a great diversity of musical knowledge. These local heavyweights are also well-established in the social media space, initiating an ideal springboard for the show with ample opportunities to amplify ‘live’ moments on the show within the social space.
M-Net has done well to capitalise upon this, ensuring that a presence is being felt by the show on multiple platforms ie Instagram, Facebook and WeChat, with Twitter leading the conversation during the show. To ensure those without M-Net access get some insight into the show, clips from episodes are being loaded to the official You Tube channel, as well as being broadcast on M-Net City. Although according to TV with Theunis, this move is largely in response to the illegal downloads occurring as a result of the popularity of the initial episodes. This response to local content from outside SA could also reveal the future potential for the library that Showmax has released ie kykNET on-demand.
The Voice SA debuted on M-Net to a GRP against LSM 8-10 Adults of 1.2, with over 116 000 viewers tuning in to see the initial auditions unfold. With Dial Direct snapping up the headline sponsorship and amplifying its involvement across platforms, the advertisers in the first shows have been a mix of FMCG, vehicles and fast food — eager to reach audiences as the appetite for the content grows.
Download The Voice SA audience and ad rates analysis (post campaign): for rates, see tab 3.
Activity |
Target |
Market |
Variable |
Live + VOSDAL |
All adults 15+ |
National |
AMR % |
Date\Description (grouped) |
THE VOICE SA |
THE VOICE SA -R |
|
| 31/01/2016 | 0.4 | ||
| 02/02/2016 | 0.1 | ||
| 06/02/2016 | 0 | 0 | |
| 07/02/2016 | 0.3 | 0.1 | |
| 09/02/2016 | 0.1 | ||
| 13/02/2016 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
| 14/02/2016 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 16/02/2016 | 0 | ||
| 20/02/2016 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
| 21/02/2016 | 0.6 | 0 | |
| 23/02/2016 | 0.1 | ||
| 27/02/2016 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| 28/02/2016 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 01/03/2016 | 0 | ||
| 05/03/2016 | 0.1 | 0 | |
| 06/03/2016 | 0.5 | 0 | |
| 08/03/2016 | 0.1 | ||
| 12/03/2016 | 0.2 | 0 | |
| 13/03/2016 | 0.6 | 0 |
Activity |
Target |
Market |
Variable |
Live + VOSDAL |
All adults 15+ |
National |
AMR |
Date\Description (grouped) |
THE VOICE SA |
THE VOICE SA -R |
|
| 31/01/2016 | 118 620 | ||
| 02/02/2016 | 21 531 | ||
| 06/02/2016 | 14 613 | 4 168 | |
| 07/02/2016 | 106 942 | 26 720 | |
| 09/02/2016 | 28 724 | ||
| 13/02/2016 | 20 590 | 21 585 | |
| 14/02/2016 | 183 319 | 14 264 | |
| 16/02/2016 | 10 140 | ||
| 20/02/2016 | 33 883 | 24 929 | |
| 21/02/2016 | 193 213 | 11 711 | |
| 23/02/2016 | 19 195 | ||
| 27/02/2016 | 20 340 | 4 194 | |
| 28/02/2016 | 155 499 | 11 656 | |
| 01/03/2016 | 14 021 | ||
| 05/03/2016 | 37 819 | 12 648 | |
| 06/03/2016 | 184 588 | 16 462 | |
| 08/03/2016 | 37 282 | ||
| 12/03/2016 | 57 231 | 8 233 | |
| 13/03/2016 | 218 162 | 3 732 |
Watched with interest
In addition, in a move to maximise engagement in the growing multi-screening culture, fans may also download The Voice SA app. This provides them with behind-the-scenes information, live updates and the ability to participate in polls, encouraging regular app use.
With production costs being high on this type of show, M-Net’s digitally integrated strategy will be watched with interest to see how the audience demographic develops and advertisers respond.
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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