STAYING ENTERTAINED AT HOME

STAYING ENTERTAINED AT HOME

South Africa is the largest TV market on the continent, expected to expand at 3.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through to 2023, when the revenue is projected to sit at R40.5-billion.

“With the sharp digital divide in South Africa meaning that a large proportion of the population are excluded from affordable, stable internet coverage, it is likely that traditional TV will remain a critical component of the media landscape well into the future,” reads the National Associations of Broadcasters (NBA) statement to the media, commemorating World Television Day.

“In addition to being a major source of information, education and entertainment across all age groups, traditional TV’s contribution to the country is rich and diverse - from employment opportunities to significant investments in local content production.”

Since early 2020, millions of South Africans have been spending more time at home. This has come with more hours spent watching television and more hours spent on the internet using subscription video-on-demand services (SVOD).

Sports broadcasts took on greater significance as sporting codes around the world hosted their events behind closed doors. Cinemas also closed, which saw movie viewing shift to streaming platforms.

RECORD-BREAKING NUMBERS

The start of lockdown saw record-breaking numbers in terms of average hours spent watching television, for both day and primetime hours. In terms of daytime, for three straight months (April, May and June 2020) South Africans watched an average of over 3 hours of television, surpassing all figures from over the previous two years, heights which we have not returned to since lockdown regulations were eased. In fact, between May 2018 and February 2021, the closest South Africa came to those figures was an average of 3 hours in September of 2019.

Primetime numbers tell a similar story, with April and May 2020 bucking the trend of no more than 1 hour and 19 minutes of average time spent.

Time spent viewing: A 3 year trend - Average hours spent per day by month Broadcast TV only (excluding non-broadcast activity) ALL DAY

Time spent viewing: A 3 year trend - Average hours spent per day by month

Broadcast TV only (excluding non-broadcast activity) PRIME TIME

PAY-TV SUBSCRIPTIONS

Revenue from Pay-TV subscriptions R27-billion for 2021 R28.8-billion by 2023

Households with Pay-TV Subscriptions 7.4-million in 2021 7.8-million in 2023

(Projections from PwC Africa Entertainment& Media Outlook 2019 - 2023)

HOUSEHOLD DEVICE BREAKDOWN

13 850 708 households own a TV

3 884 348 households own a computer

15 584 615 households have a cellphone

4 032 652 households have home theatre system

(Stats from Stats SA’s 2016Community Survey)

TV & VIDEO REVENUE AND CONSUMER SPENDING

RevenueR37.9-billion for 2021R40.5-billion by 2023

SpendingR30.5-billion for 2021R32.6-billion by 2023

(Projections from PwC Africa Entertainment& Media Outlook 2019 - 2023)