Last year, Muvhango being the last remaining soap on SABC 2 was cut short without any notice from the public broadcaster. They thought rehashing the older seasons to the show would draw in audiences but this led to some backlash and public outcry which promoted SABC to resurrect Muvhango.
They promised a new logo, title and so forth none of which came to fruition and deployed Imbewu star Leleti Khumalo in the hopes that she'll elevate the ratings. But Muvhango hasn't recovered since then, after its short cancellation they show had 1 million viewers from September of last year and that dropped to 900,000 by November.
According to South African entertainer Phil Mphela, Muvhango will not be renewed beyond its current season on SABC 2 meaning it will end by mid 2025 presumably by July to September. At this point, I wouldn't be completely shocked if it weren't replaced with another (Venda) soap I mean look at 7de Laan.
Because of SABC's redundancy, consumers have fled to KykNet and e.tv which by the way launched its first Afrikaans soap in 2024, Kelders Van Gehieme. SABC 3 had launched a rival offering to eExtra's Kuiertyd or alternative to 7de Laan which recieves very little notice from the media and other audiences.
SABC in a response to Phil's announcements doesn't deny or confirm the allegations about Muvhango but stated that the contract for the show will end in July 2025 and at this stage there is no update on a renewal. But if I'm being honest I believe this is the end as the viewership continues to plummet for Muvhango while SABC 1's offering sees stability.
SABC 2 becoming another S3???
This is something that has been floating around platforms for sometime as SABC 3 was hovering around 1.5 million viewers by 2013-5 and now they're sitting with under 300,000-600,000. Then there's Muvhango which only had 900,000 and possibly much lower figures into 2025.
It's not only SABC 2 that is seeing a dip in viewership but even SABC 1, e.tv and Mzansi Magic had seen a drop. If there's anything that these drops are indicating is that broadcasters need to rethink their strategies try to figure out drawing people away from these networks and onto Netflix.
My guess originality, most shows tend to recycle themes or storylines and Netflix has plenty of diversity with their offering. This one is targeted at the elephant in the room (SABC), I feel they shouldn't be overspending on local content even knowing that a fraction of households actually pay TV license.
I think S3 has to go now especially if SABC won't be able to accommodate the big 3 or maybe turn it into an overflow of some sorts for SABC+ and their offering on DTT. Things aren't looking good for the SABC I know they envision that they'll be debt free at some point in the future but cable or at least in South Africa is far from recovery.
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