M-Net's head of original productions, Carl Fischer, says the decision to extend Egoli's contract is based on the soap's remarkable performance. “Egoli has become an institution in the homes of many of our M-Net subscribers and even after almost 4000 episodes it continues to grow audiences in our key target markets.”
According to Fischer, both of M-Net's daily dramas, Binnelanders and Egoli, are performing extremely well after the closure of open time in April this year.
“Now that we don't have access to any other viewers, we can only measure a show's performance in terms of its pay television viewership,” explains Fisher.
“Currently, Egoli has more pay television viewers than ever before, while Binnelanders has grown the 6.30pm timeslot, previously occupied by sitcoms, by a substantial 145%. Egoli also continues to be the number one M-Net programme on weekdays between 5pm and 7pm.”
Binnelanders and Egoli have become fixtures on M-Net's weekly list of Top Ten Programmes, where their ratings compare favourably to international hits such as Grey's Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost and Prison Break.
“Rumours that soaps on other channels are diluting our audiences are not true,” claims Fischer. “Since Binnelanders moved to the 6.30pm slot, viewership of its direct competitor, 7de Laan, has in fact decreased by 46% among pay television viewers. At the same time, the Binnelanders audience has shown an 11% increase since it turned into a daily drama.”
These days Egoli and Binnelanders are available on a variety of platforms, including DStv's Compact bouquet, which currently has 130 000 subscribers.
On Friday 3 August, Egoli will screen a Special Broadcast in celebration of 4000 episodes. And on Saturday 4 August, the ‘Egoli Burger' will be available at all Steers restaurants around the country, with R7 from the sale of each burger (costing R20) to be donated to JAM, a charity organisation that has distributed food to the poor for more than 20 years.
