‘Skeem Saam’ dominates in new timeslot
Despite reports that ‘Skeem Saam’ had lost 1.3 million viewers from it’s move to a later timeslot, the show has dethroned Scandal!
E.tv’s most-watched soapie, Scandal! took a knock on its 19:30 timeslot when Skeem Saam moved from its 18:30 slot.
‘SKEEM SAAM’ MOVES TO A NEW TIMESLOT
Entertainment commentator, Phil Mphela reports that Skeem Saam received 3.3 million viewers while Scandal! pulled 2.7 million viewers on Monday, 4 March.
The SABC 1 soapie debuted its first 19:30 episode on Monday where it competes with Scandal! and Mzansi Magic’s, My Brother’s Keeper.
This comes after the SABC revealed on Tuesday, 5 March that the soapie “achieved a massive historical audience rating of 3.2 million viewers last night”.
The Broadcasting Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) reported in January that the soapie achieved 4.5 million viewers. Which meant the show lost 1.3 million viewers between January and March 2024.
TVSA reports that the e.tv popular soapie received 4.6 million viewers in January.
TV:
Skeem Saam beat Scandal
SABC1 soapie’s debut episode on its new timeslot pulled more viewers than etv soapie Scandal.
On Monday, March 4th at 19h30, #SkeemSaam pulled 3,3-million viewers while #etvScandal hit 2,7-million. #KgopoloReports pic.twitter.com/SxMzKhKNda
— Kgopolo (@PhilMphela) March 7, 2024
‘SCANDAL!’ RESPONDS
Scandal!’s head writer, Grace Mahlaba revealed to Sunday World this week that Skeem Saam is not a threat because the shows are totally different.
“Competition has always been there for us; it is just that SABC had different shows on the timeslot, but we had the staying power. Time will tell if we are confident of the stories that we tell and if we are not going to sleep or slumber. Our worst-case scenario is that we will have to share the audience.”
“When you know yourself, you know yourself. I believe that the people who watch us know us and have identified themselves their taste. If we keep dishing the dish that they came for, I think we will be fine,” says Mahlaba.
The e.tv soapie this year will be celebrating 20 years of TV, while the SABC educational soapie is turning 13 years.