So the hush hush time of e.tv's new soapie Imbewu: The Seed has eventually been confirmed: 21h30 is the number, Mondays to Fridays.
We bet our TVs it would air at 20h00 - and no, we're not giving them up! - but clearly e.tv has decided to dodge the primetime soapie firing line.
When Imbewu premieres on Monday, 16 April, it will be the only South African soapie on TV in the timeslot. SABC2's Keeping Score ends the Tuesday before (on 10 April) so it's out of the picture.
It's being replaced by a rebroadcast of SABC1's boxing drama Jab and the repeat of Forced Love 2 (on Monday and Tuesday respectively), which leaves 21h30 open for a regular weeknight following.
Some may consider 21h30 late but Keeping Score has performed well in the timeslot, attracting audiences of over 2-million viewers for its highest episodes. It also has to contend with the Mondays and Tuesdays anomaly which hasn’t been to the show’s advantage.
According to the one of the series stars who we spoke to last year, viewers have been uncertain about when the series airs. Word from our source is that viewers regularly ask them: "What days is it on?!" This is obviously because Mondays and Tuesdays is an irregular broadcast set-up when it comes to telenovelas and soapies, a situation that Imbewu won't face.
It also has the advantage of a nightly lead-in of The Queen on DStv and Muvhango on SABC2 preceded by the country's two most popular shows, Generations and Uzalo, which is literally Imbewu's sister series with its former Uzalo stars and producers.
It might not be on the same channel but if SABC1 doesn't have something spicy at 21h30 each night, Uzalo could become Imbewu's biggest ally if Uzalo fans tune in.
Of course, this
won't be the case if Imbewu is too similar to Uzalo. No-one wants to stay awake to watch what they've just seen before.
Will you be tuning in?
You'll find more about the series here:
Flash facts on e.tv's new soapie Imbewu: The Seed
Cast/plot revealed for e.tv's Imbewu: The Seed