[Submitted via press release]
Hectic Nine-9 studio in Cape Town.
Hectic Nine-9, the daily, live, variety show on SABC 2, continues its trend of being the most popular local youth and children’s program in South Africa.
In the latest viewership results released this week, Hectic Nine-9 topped the charts for April 2014 as the best local and international youth-specific program on television. The program just missed out on the overall number 1 position in the category, due to the popularity of the documentary, Concrete Jungle – Second Chance.
The SABC’s Head of Children’s Content, Nokuthula Khumoetsile Msimang, was delighted with the news. “Hectic Nine-9 continues to remain relevant and fresh,” she said. “It has managed to find the perfect balance between keeping our young viewers informed and entertained at the same time. I’m sure it won’t be long before Hn9 manages to capture the number 1 spot. I’m looking forward to seeing the results for May!”
With international programs generally taking the lead when it comes to viewer numbers, it is gratifying for the team that there has been a steady increase in young viewers who switch over to Hectic Nine-9 each weekday between 4pm and 5pm.
SABC Commissioning Editor, Mpumi Ngidi believes that it’s the continuous addition of fresh and vibrant content within the program that is the key to its success. “No two days are ever the same on Hectic,” she said. “From celebrating 20 years of Democracy with fun, fast-paced game shows to sending the presenters out into the wilds for another season of Survive-It, it’s all about giving the viewers what they want to see”.
Appealing to viewers is something that Hectic Nine-9 is doing very well lately, with its online numbers reflecting those of TV. Hn9’s Facebook site enjoys over 275 000 fans, its website (which is currently being revamped) boasts more than 10 000 unique visitors a month and Twitter has an active following of almost 55 000.
The most exciting numbers for the team though are coming from Hectic’s Youtube Channel where viewers are enjoying the fact that content is available 24/7 and, in only a few short months, has managed to reach over 32 000 views. This just goes to prove that viewers are not leaving television for online - they’re doing both at the same time.