Jacquie Golding-Duffy
There was a 3% drop in adult viewers of television during the week following the SABC’s relaunch, although there was a percentage hike at two of the new-look channels.
The week prior to the launch, 80% of adults in all language groups watched SABC and M-Net, while the week after the launch, 77% of adults tuned in.
There was a 2% drop, from 18%, of black viewers on the pay channel during the week after the launch.
The weekly report, Amps Meters, published by the South African Advertising Research Foundation showed that from January 22 to 28 1996, 82% of Nguni/Sotho-speaking adults watched TV including M-Net, while the week after the launch (February 5 to 11 1996), 81% watched TV.
Of English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking adults, 78% watched all three SABC channels and M-Net prior to the launch, while only 74% watched TV the week after the launch.
NNTV’s Nguni/Sotho audience also rose from 45% in the week before, to 53% watching SABC 3 (the former NNTV) the week after the launch.
Viewership among English and Afrikaans- speaking adults also increased from 28% watching NNTV to 41% watching SABC 3.
The overall shift in adults across the full spectrum indicated that NNTV’s 35% of viewers increased to 46% on SABC 3.
CCV’s 64% audience shifted to 65% and TV1 viewers moved from 71% in the week before the relaunch, to 69% the week after.