How SABC Could Save 7de Laan From Complete Extinction

During the year, it was reported that the public broadcaster had axed 7de Laan after 24 years with the last episode set to be broadcast on Day Of Goodwill (26 December). Since news of its cancellation surfaced the SABC has faced severe backlash from fans.

As a petition is being drawn up for SABC at change.org to reconsider, several fans are looking to strike at Campus Square Auckland Park in Johannesburg this coming Thursday which is where the show had been filmed.

The public broadcaster view their current financial state as one of the reasons 7de Laan is being booted and another having to deal with the fact that the viewership of the Afrikaans soap has dropped in the past years with etv's Afrikaans offering at 5pm able to double it's audience.

It's unlikely that 7de Laan's viewership will get better overnight with Sentech cancelling several analogue feeds for their channels and also Eskom's blackouts. Striking is probably the only way consumers will ever get across to the public broadcaster and if possible find an outcome.

Despite having more viewers than M-Net and Mzansi Magic, SABC has seen their ratings drop in recent years with SABC 3 taking the most punches following the cancellation/removals of Days Of Our Lives and Isidingo SABC 2 likely to suffer the same fate with 7de Laan.

7de Laan ranks as the most watched Afrikaans soap and second watched soap on SABC 2 behind Muvhango. Overall, most of the public broadcaster's local productions can't surpass the viewership of Uzalo, Generations: The Legacy, Skeem Saam and Muvhango.

The only way SABC 2's viewership would probably remain intact would be if the public broadcaster was looking to replace 7de Laan with a follow-up show similar to Generations: The Legacy or if some if not majority of the cast were to be seen on the replacement soap.

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