These are the primetime adult television viewing figures for January 2022.
If you can't see the listing below, then click this link to access them in a document instead:
Top Shows on TV: January 2022.
Special notes
See how low the ratings are for Big Brother Mzansi. Over 200,000 viewers less than ratings-plunged Idols, which lost a third of its audience
during Season 17.
Despite this, Idols still managed to outperform Big Brother by 224,326 viewers during its final episodes
in November, with an audience share of 9.6 versus Big Brother's lowly 5.6.
The Big Brother ratings of 529,041 viewers reflect the second hour of the premiere on Sunday 23 January. This was the highest rated episode for the month which means viewership decreased the following week, on Sunday 30 January.
It's obvious that there are too many problems with the show, which started before it even premiered. There was no inclusion of the press in the build-up - no sneak peek pics of the house as an inside scoop, no early contestant teasers and no morsels of exciting news.
The actual show itself was
an epic and infuriating disappointment when it turned out to be a glorified advert for gambling and alcohol with no diversity amongst the cast who were clearly cast as "party people" who need to sell Lotto Star and Johnnie Walker.
The fact that the show needs an age restriction of 16 for a 18h00 show on a family channel further reduces its appeal and reach, and
the poor quality of the dull Sunday night shows means under 16-year-olds have actually dodged a boring hour.
Once word got out that the cast was undiverse there was no going back. If people had heard good things about the show the ratings would have increased the following week, even if there was no proper build-up beforehand.
But that didn't happen.
It's good to see viewers protesting all this with their remote controls.
If you can't see the documents above, here's an overview of the Top 5 shows per channel/broadcaster:
SABC1
| Show |
Viewers |
| Uzalo |
6,995,444 |
| Generations: The Legacy |
5,304,063 |
| Skeem Saam |
3,930,841 |
| Zulu News |
2,467,407 |
| Xhosa News |
2,324,789 |
SABC2
| Show |
Viewers |
| Muvhango |
3,952,923 |
| Giyani |
1,192,086 |
| Ditlabonyane Ke Ditlaboima |
955,385 |
| Hlala Kwabafileyo |
944,274 |
| 7De Laan |
928,284
|
SABC3
| Show |
Viewers |
| Face Off |
652,702 |
| Betway Cricket Inbound Tour 3rd Odi Inte |
618,679 |
| Betway Cricket Inbound Tour Third Test:S |
579,160 |
| The Lion King |
574,900 |
| Dynasties |
567,764 |
e.tv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Scandal |
5,055,860 |
| Imbewu |
4,433,002 |
| House of Zwide |
3,956,323 |
| Chinese Zodiac |
2,790,764 |
| Anacondas:the Hunt for the Blood Orchid |
2,540,794 |
DStv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Gomora |
1,166,871 |
| The Queen |
1,069,713 |
| Mnakwethu Happily Ever After |
909,194 |
| Our Perfect Wedding |
798,792 |
| The Republic |
768,592 |
Please note: these ratings don't include viewership from DStv Catch Up, YouTube, Viu or eVOD. They only reflect the viewership of people who watched on the day, at the time of broadcast.
For an explanation of the TAMS, please see:
The TAMS Ratings Explained.