Most-watched TV shows and movies in South Africa

On Jan 15, 2022

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The Broadcasting Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) has revealed its television audience measurements survey (TAMS) for December 2021, showing that soaps and dramas remained the most-watched TV shows in the country.

According to the TAMS, the most-watched TV show of last month was 2 December’s episode of SABC 1 drama Uzalo, which drew almost 6.86 million viewers.

SABC 1 also claimed the second most-watched spot with a Generations: The Legacy episode on 8 December, pulling in over 5.48 million viewers.

Racking up 4.7 million viewers on 9 December, E-tv’s Scandal claimed the third most-watched episode during the month.

The independent broadcaster also claimed the fourth most-watched TV show overall, with an episode of drama House of Zwide hitting 3.76 million viewers on the same day.

On its heels was SABC 2’s Muvhango, another popular soap, as the fifth most-watched TV show in the country, with 3.62 million viewers.

The three most-watched movies shown on free-to-air channels during December were all on E-tv. These were White Chicks, The Expendables 3, and The Expendables 2.

When it comes to pay-TV, DStv’s Mzansi Magic drama Gomora had the most-watched episode, drawing 1.37 million viewers on 1 December.

While video streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video have been growing in popularity in recent years, television still commands the largest share of the home video entertainment market.

According to the State of the Broadcasting Industry report for 2019, South Africa had an estimated 14.4 million households with TVs.

Terrestrial TV broadcasts have been around for much longer than the Internet.

They also don’t require large amounts of data or an uncapped broadband connection, which are often too expensive for the average household and not as readily available.

In addition, free-to-air channels like SABC 1, SABC 2, S3, and E-tv don’t require a subscription fee.

Terrestrial broadcasting viewers have also been getting an upgrade in terms of video and sound quality, as well as more channels to choose from, with the migration to digital TV in South Africa now in full swing.

The communications department recently announced the last analogue transmitter in the North West had been switched off, bringing the total number of provinces to go completely digital to three.

The remaining provinces are all scheduled to complete their switch-off by the end of January 2021.