These are the primetime adult television viewing figures for March 2023.
If you can't see the listing below, then click this link to access them in a document instead:
Top Shows on TV: March 2023
Special notes
See how viewership soured during the national shutdown when loadshedding was suddenly suspended in between being reduced to Stages 1 and 2.
Viewership for every soapie increased dramatically on 20 March and the public holiday on 21 March, with some shows increasing by over a million viewers between their most watched episode in
February (when there was loadshedding from Stage 2 to 6 every day) and their most watched episode in March.
As you'll see from our chart below, viewership for the country's soapies increased by a whopping
7,725,248 viewers in total between February and March - an increase of 26%. All of these increases happened on 20 and 21 March.
Also, viewership for SABC2's Morning Live shot up by
66% between February and March, increasing from 500,870 viewers on 10 February to 829,822 on 20 March.
Our interpretation of this turn of events:
A. Viewership soars when there's electricity.
B. Fans haven't given up on their shows, they just
cannot watch them when there's no power.
C. The government is scared of the EFF.
| Show |
February
2023 |
March
2023 |
Increase between
February and March |
| Uzalo |
5,058,378 |
6,248,825 |
1,190,447 |
| Scandal! |
4,018,588 |
4,947,613 |
929,025 |
| Generations: The Legacy |
4,006,227 |
4,924,949 |
918,722 |
| Skeem Saam |
3,521,888 |
4,603,485 |
1,081,597 |
| House of Zwide |
3,105,669 |
4,085,038 |
979,369 |
| Imbewu |
1,922,723 |
2,580,621 |
657,898 |
| The Black Door |
1,811,064 |
2,237,953 |
426,889 |
| Durban Gen |
1,742,957 |
1,998,804 |
255,847 |
| Muvhango |
1,417,132 |
1,775,386 |
358,254 |
| 7de Laan |
829,549 |
1,109,733 |
280,184 |
| Giyani |
817,681 |
982,107 |
164,426 |
| Gomora |
667,334 |
885,304 |
217,970 |
| Gqeberha - The Empire |
482,800 |
589,267 |
106,467 |
| The River |
480,148 |
586,939 |
106,791 |
| The Wife |
336,811 |
388,173 |
51,362 |
Total increase between
February and March 2023 |
30,218,949 |
37,944,197 |
7,725,248 |
If you can't see the documents above, here's an overview of the Top 5 shows per channel/broadcaster:
SABC1
| Show |
Viewers |
| Uzalo |
6,248,825 |
| Generations: The Legacy |
4,924,949 |
| Skeem Saam |
4,603,485 |
| Zulu News |
2,971,263 |
| Xhosa News |
2,797,204 |
SABC2
| Show |
Viewers |
| Muvhango |
1,775,386 |
| 7De Laan |
1,109,733 |
| Giyani |
982,107 |
| Ke Kgwebo Ya Ka Ye |
926,859 |
| Morning Live |
829,822 |
SABC3
| Show |
Viewers |
| Caf Champions League Mamelodi Sundowns V |
581,526 |
| Kfc T20 International:South Africa vs We |
561,722 |
| News |
526,478 |
| Coastal Africa |
480,410 |
| The Great Elephant Tale |
472,694 |
e.tv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Scandal |
4,947,613 |
| House of Zwide |
4,085,038 |
| Imbewu |
2,580,621 |
| The Black Door |
2,237,953 |
| Abafana Ababi |
2,210,472 |
DStv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Gomora |
885,304 |
| Isencane Lengane |
632,499 |
| Sizok'thola |
589,801 |
| Gqeberha:the Empire |
589,267 |
| X-Repo |
588,547 |
Please note: these ratings don't include viewership from DStv Catch Up, YouTube, Viu, eVOD or SABC+. 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.