PR Powerhouse

Client: Openview
Media Release

20 August 2020

Lockdown restrictions eased, but TV is still king

Top form of entertainment in SA remains home viewing

Johannesburg, [insert date] : With the introduction of alert level 2, Covid-19 lockdown restrictions
have been eased to allow for greater social contact, but the entertainment option of choice for most
South Africans remains home viewing.

“TV is still king and local viewers want local content,” says Mmatshipi Matebane, retail executive of
free-to-view direct broadcast satellite television provider, Openview. “And if that kind of
entertainment is both accessible and affordable, even better.”

According to Nielsen, South Africans were watching television for an average of four hours and
twelve minutes every day at the height of the lockdown. As expected, this dropped off slightly after
the introduction of alert levels 4 and 3, mainly because people who had been restricted to staying
home during the initial lockdown period were returning to work. Recent audience trends
nevertheless show that TV is still the country’s most important form of entertainment and that
viewers spend a considerable amount of time every day watching movies and their favourite shows.

Another interesting trend is that, while streaming platforms such as Netflix were popular before the
lockdown, financial pressures mean that many viewers are now cutting back on what they consider
to be non-essential luxuries. According to the Old Mutual Savings and Investment Monitor 2020,
30% of viewers who use streaming services are thinking of cancelling their subscriptions as their
incomes have been affected by the lockdown, while 25% of current DStv subscribers plan to migrate
to more affordable packages.

With cost playing a much greater role in viewing decisions, Openview, which charges a once-off
connection fee but doesn’t charge monthly subscriptions, is one of the few providers to have
retained its audiences. In fact, the platform recently celebrated two million household activations,
accounting for approximately 8 million viewers, and continues to attract 35 000 new activations
every month.

“The Top 20 shows watched in July indicate that movies remain popular,” says Matebane, “especially
as the chilly weather is keeping people indoors. Of course, sport doesn’t feature on the list as many
sporting events have been cancelled in compliance with lockdown regulations. News, on the other
hand, continues to be one of the main attractions, with NewsNight and Check Point attracting solid
audience numbers.”

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Prior to the lockdown, sport featured prominently in the Top 20, with other favourite shows being
evenly split between sitcoms, reality shows, news and soapies. Movies, dramas and documentaries
also held strong positions.

In June and July, ten of the Top 20 shows were locally produced programmes, showing South
Africans’ strong preference for local content. Two of these shows aired on eTV and eight aired on
SABC channels, suggesting that not only is local lekker, but that there is a drop-off in the uptake of
subscription-based services.

Offering access to 18 TV stations (some available in HD) and 9 radio stations, Openview provides a
great mix of local and international shows, including movies, dramas, series, kids’ entertainment,
reality shows and news. The TV stations include perennial favourites SABC 1, 2 and 3, eight eTV
channels, and channels such as Glow TV, Mindset, DBE TV and Fight Sport. Also on offer are Turkish
and Indian telenovelas, which are dubbed into both English and Afrikaans.

“The Openview model is the future of television,” says Matebane, “and more and more people are
discovering Openview, especially they feel the post-lockdown financial pinch.”

For more information about Openview and its programming, visit https://www.openview.co.za/.

End.

Editorial Contact:
Lebo Madiba
Managing Director
PR Powerhouse
082 392 5339
lebo@prpowerhouse.co.za

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