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From
Channel 24 in South Africa:
CAPE TOWN, South Africa – MultiChoice's Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel (DStv 199) is
a massive viewership success story for DStv – lifting ratings on the
South African satellite pay-TV platform to unprecedented levels and
making the channel the 4th most watched TV channel on pay-TV in South
Africa since the channel launched on 2 March.
The phenomenal
viewership feat makes the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel, which has
already earned millions, the most successful pay-TV channel launched in
South African television history.
That's due to the short amount
of time in which the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel has been able to
amass thousands of riveted viewers, get them to watch television for
longer – and during timeslots usually suffering from anemic ratings.
The
channel has successfully also managed to grow a brand-new social media
community and following around a specific topic of interest – people who
then also watch the channel and interact with the various TV
presenters.
The sensational court trial in the North Gauteng High
Court of the paralympic athlete who shot and killed his girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp on Valentines Day last year, managed to push news
coverage of Nkandlagate and South Africa's general election during March
and April off of the front pages of newspapers and lifted viewership of
the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel to unprecedented numbers.
The
court trial since 2 March received major coverage from global media
with print and electronic media who have dedicated journalists covering
the proceedings.
It's now likely that the upcoming murder trial
of Shrien Dewani, now in South Africa, will likewise be televised in a
similar fashion, fueling South African TV viewers' obsession for
dramatic, televised court room drama.
A staggering 90% of viewers
of the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel said they would want to watch
the Shrien Dewani murder trial of his wife Anni.
Channel instantly in top 5 most watched list
During
mid-March the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel, produced by Combined
Artistic Productions for MultiChoice's DStv platform, lured more viewers
than any other pay-TV channel, taking fourth place on the most-watched
channels list, only behind the free-to-air channels SABC1, SABC2 and
e.tv which remain the perennial front-runners.
The Oscar
Pistorius Trial TV channel proved more popular than premium pay-TV
channels like M-Net, Mzansi Magic and kykNET which are supplied to
MultiChoice by M-Net, and instantly shot up to the coveted top 5 list of
most watched TV channels on DStv.
In a phenomenal performance
and ratings boost for DStv, the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel managed
to pull at certain periods, the same viewership and even slightly
surpass it, of a show like for instance Carte Blanche on M-Net – the
premium pay-TV broadcaster's number one rated show and which is
broadcast during prime time when a bigger possible audience is
available.
Even more astounding is that the channel managed this
during morning and afternoon timeslots when overall daytime TV
viewership in South Africa is usually extremely low.
Lifting the overall available TV audience in SA
It
means that the Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel not only brought
thousands of viewers more to DStv and during times like mornings and
afternoons when they wouldn't have been watching before, but also helped
to lift the overall available TV audience in South Africa available to
advertisers during those timeslots.
The Oscar Pistorius Trial
TV channel has also been a spontaneous upsell driver to prompt DStv
subscribers to upgrade to higher and more expensive DStv bouquets in
order to follow thetelevised court trial.
DStv subscribers like
Cherise de Wet – a practising attorney from George, who decided to
upgrade their TV household to a higher DStv bouquet for just a month in
April in order to follow to murder trial – has remained on a more
expensive package solely to get the TV channel and follow the
proceedings.
Oscar Pistorius channel exceeded best expectations
"The Oscar Pistorius Trial: A Carte Blanche Channel
has exceeded our best expectations having gained a large and dedicated
audience in South Africa and around the world," Aletta Alberts,
MultiChoice's head of content tells Channel24.
"The channel
features consistently as one of the top 5 most viewed TV channels on the
DStv platform since its inception in March 2014, unusual for a pop-up
channel".
"We are very excited about the groundbreaking broadcast
and social media integration and positive educational feedback we've
received," says Alberts.
"The Oscar Pistorius Trial TV channel
has been performing incredibly well. It has attracted massive
audiences," Chris Botha, the group managing director for leading media
agency The MediaShop tells Channel24.
"Most importantly for DStv,
it has grown their audience share in non-traditional time channels.
DStv's daytime audiences are generally quite small, but the Oscar Trial
TV channel has changed it all around. Some of the daytime programmes
have performed better than some primetime programmes".
"That is
one of the reasons DStv introduced the channel – not to make millions of
ad revenue, but to grow daytime audiences that will hopefully stay on
the bouquet".
"The channel has done well because the trial is so much bigger than any one media type," says Botha.
"The
trial has received massive exposure not only on television, but also on
social media like Facebook and Twitter. The interest in the trial then
drives TV viewership".
"A lot of clients are still sceptical
about advertising on the channel. They don't want to be associated with
it, as it polarising to some audiences, and also as it is seen as
distateful".
"I don't believe it is a missed opportunity for
advertisers," says Botha. "I rather believe it is a grasped opportunity
for MultiChoice".
