The new Television ES includes the fieldwork period of November 2022 to February 2023. This much-needed 2023 television universe update has a sample size of 8,000, comprising of 5,000 face-to-face (F2F) and 3,000 online/CAWI interviews.
The results of the new ES have been presented and are available via the relevant planning bureaux.
While individuals continue to consume video content at levels reminiscent of the past, the dynamics of this consumption have evolved considerably.
“The world of viewing has changed significantly over the past few years, and the new ES data reflects this,” says BRC’s CEO, Gary Whitaker.
“Due to the complexities of the world of content viewing, the goal was to try and understand this world and to attempt to mitigate against over/underclaims, misunderstandings, lack of knowledge of equipment, and so on. This is a reality for all surveys in this arena.”
The Television universe was updated in October 2020.
“However, much has happened over the past three years. It remains critical that all changes in South African viewership be reflected in the universe,” says Whitaker.
The mixed methodology of F2F and online was essential to obtain a representative national SA sample.
Whitaker confirms, “Nielsen has considerable experience, both internationally and locally, in the process of combining data sets, which ensures that the final ES is the best possible representation of the total market.”
Despite a five percent surge in the number of households, the overall household viewing experience, encompassing both traditional TV and streaming platforms, has seen a modest dip from 92% to 90%.
Nonetheless, this shift in proportionate viewing translates into an overall increase in the total count of viewing households, rising from 15.9 million to an impressive 16.5 million.
A myriad of factors contributes to this nuanced change, including the analogue switch-off, the repercussions of lockdown measures, instances of load shedding, and the rise of budget-friendly streaming alternatives amid increased internet access (with 15% of households equipped with permanent/fixed internet).
The ubiquity of smartphone access, reaching 69%, further underscores this trend. Additional contributing factors include economic implications, such as income loss due to lockdown measures and other economic factors, alongside a noticeable surge in households exclusively relying on streaming services.
Total video content viewing (total population of 43.6 million) can be segmented into:
Of the video viewing population:
It has been four years since the last implemented universe update and when assessing ratings, the following must be considered:
Considering all these factors, healthy weighting efficiencies are still being maintained when assessing the new TV universe, 82% household and 68% individual (which is very close to the statistically accepted level of 70%).
Profile changes of the TV population and TV panel which include Province, Area type, Population group, Pay/Non Pay TV can be viewed at here.
Other findings from the new ES data indicate:
View the full TV ES presentation here.
