Last Wednesday evening (8 May, 2013) Motswako aired in the show's
new timeslot of 18h00 for the first time and the viewership plunged.
The ratings for the first broadcast at the new time dropped to less than half the average viewership from the week before, on Monday, 29 April at 21h30.
The average viewership (provided by
SAARF) over the past three episodes is as follows:
| Monday, 29 April at 21h30: |
1 919 377 |
| Monday, 6 May at 21h30: |
1 416 817 |
| Wednesday, 8 May at 18h00: |
an average of over a million viewers less than Monday, 29 April. |
Over months and even years, the talker's had the status of being South Africa's most popular talk show across channels, with average ratings regularly exceeding well over 1.5 million viewers per week.
When SABC2 announced the news that the show would be switching times the channel stated that it was to appeal to more viewers and to increase viewership. Clearly the move has had the very opposite effect.
At 18h00 the show's now competing with rush-hour traffic, domestic responsibilities, The Bold and the Beautiful on SABC1 and impending soapies at 18h30 which many viewers want to ensure they're free for. People are often busy at 18h00.
All in all it seems that there was no problem with the former timeslot and the new time has made the show much less accessible to viewers. Either that or viewers forgot that the show was changing time and the ratings will increase as the weeks go on.
Time and the ratings will tell.