24
No. 37261
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 24 JANUARY 2014
3.2.3.1 Audiences
3.2.3.1.1 Television
Viewership of television has grown significantly since the White Paper was finalised in 1998.
In the past ten years alone, viewership has increased from 68% of the adult population in
2002 to 92 % of all adults (over the past seven days) in June 2013 according to the South
African Advertising and Research Foundation (SAARF). SABC 1 has the most viewers at
27.7 million. It was viewed by 78.8% of adult viewers in 2012 compared to less than 60% in
1998. SABC 2 has 24.8 million viewers and was viewed by 71% of the adult audience in
2012 (compared to50% in 1998/1999), e.tv has 23.95 million viewers (68.6% of viewers) and
SABC 3 reaches 21 million viewers. Community television has mirrored this growth and
currently sits with an average weekly reach of 8.5%.
Satellite subscription television service, DSTV, has grown its audiences significantly since
1998 - from 2% in 1998/1999 to 28% of the adult population in 2012 (9.9 million viewers).
This increase has been driven at least in part by the subscription service introducing a range
of cheaper bouquets over the past five years.
The growth in viewership of DSTV services is obviously matched by an increase in
subscriber numbers. The figure below shows the dramatic growth in subscribers for DSTV
since 2005.
M -Net and DStv subscriber numbers
5000
4500
4000
-5- 3500
0
3000
M-Net
E
C
2500
DSt,.
Totes - MNet & DSP
rs= 2000
-o
1500
1000
500
0
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
South African households' viewing patterns have changed over the past 15 years. For
example, South African content is increasingly popular and demanded by audiences and
thus a commercial rather than only regulatory imperative for broadcasters. This has led to
multi-channel satellite services introducing more local channels over and above those
required by South African content regulations (such as Mzansi and eKasi channels).
3.2.3.1.2 Radio
Total radio listenership has in the meantime remained relatively stable- with All Media
Products Survey (AMPS) recording a past seven day listenership of 91.8% in 2002 and
92.6% in December 2012. The listenership figures however for individual services has
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