eMedia Group recently announced that it has maintained its status as the largest prime-time broadcaster in South Africa for the year ending 31 March 2026.
The broadcaster reported a 32.2% share of the most commercially valuable viewing time for advertising slots.
eMedia Group further noted that its two closest competitors, which it did not identify, had prime-time market shares of 29.3% and 28.8%, respectively, during the same period.
The only other broadcasters in South Africa approaching eMedia’s market share are DStv and the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC).
eMedia stated that E-tv remains one of the most watched TV channels in the country. “The prime-time market share has been driven by strategic scheduling, including five daily soap operas,” they stated.
“The daily shows are performing well in their respective time slots. While the channel has lost some audience share, this decrease is due to cancelling a vernacular soap at 18:30.”
eMedia explained that the vernacular soap had achieved a good market share but was not profitable. In contrast, its Afrikaans soap, Kelders van Geheime, had a low share but was financially successful.
In its financial reporting, eMedia noted that although South Africa’s overall television advertising revenues had declined, their drop was not as pronounced.
“The television advertising market has experienced a year-on-year decline, corresponding with a challenging economic climate and an outdated television audience rating panel,” they said.
The market as a whole declined by about 8.7% year-on-year, while eMedia’s decline was 7.4%.
“The market has faced consecutive monthly declines since September 2024, partly due to a decrease in TV audiences,” eMedia noted.
The broadcaster pointed out that the Broadcasting Research Council has taken proactive measures by appointing a new rating agency, GfK, to replace AC Nielsen and the previous audience rating panel.
“Part of the new measurement will include all video views from broadcasters, irrespective of platform,” the broadcaster indicated.
They stated that the first data from GfK would be available toward the end of the next financial year, concluding on 31 March 2027.
A recent analysis compared the affordability of eMedia’s Openview to DStv’s Access package priced at US$5.98 per month.
Unlike DStv, which incurs both hardware and subscription costs, Openview requires only a one-time decoder fee of approximately US$48.
However, installation can raise the one-time price to between US$90 and US$151, depending on the installation requirements.
Households that install Openview receive 22 live TV channels, including the complete E-tv lineup, and 29 live radio channels.
An additional option is Openview +More, which requires an active internet connection to watch on-demand movies, series, and documentaries, and to catch up on missed programmes.
The Openview decoder is pricier than DStv’s most affordable decoder, which costs about US$30 without installation.
Our analysis found that the cost of the DStv Access package would equal the cost of Openview within two months if the customer only needed an Openview decoder without installation.
The same DStv subscription fees would exceed Openview installation costs of US$90 for households with some existing satellite TV equipment by the seventh month.
In households requiring a fresh satellite TV installation costing around $151, it would take more than a year for DStv Access costs to surpass this amount.
Below is a chart tracking the time until the cost of a DStv Access subscription, including decoder installation, exceeds the one-time expense of Openview.
We looked at three scenarios: Scenario A for an Openview installation where the household had a dish and existing cabling, costing about US$90. Scenario B for a new Openview installation in a household without satellite TV equipment, which costs around US$151.
