These are the primetime adult television viewing figures for April 2023.
If you can't see the listing below, then click this link to access them in a document instead:
Top Shows on TV: April 2023
Special notes
As you can see, e.tv's two new soapies Nikiwe and Smoke & Mirrors didn't make the channel's Top 5, which their predecessors Imbewu and Durban Gen often did e.g. in
February 2023.
Here's a comparison of the four shows in April:
| Show |
Viewership of most watched episode in the month |
Audience share* |
| Durban Gen (18h30) |
1,967,574 |
21% |
| Nikiwe (18h30) |
1,455,901 |
18% |
| Viewership decrease |
511,673 viewers |
3% |
*Audience share refers to the percentage of people who watched a show in relation to the total number of people watching TV countrywide at the time.
| Show |
Viewership of most watched episode in the month |
Audience share |
| Imbewu (21h00) |
2,275,169 |
30.1% |
| Smoke & Mirrors (21h00) |
1,712,591 |
23.4% |
| Viewership decrease |
562,578 viewers |
6.7% |
The two timeslots lost a whopping
1,074,251 viewers between them, and e.tv lost an audience share of 9.7% across the timeslots.
Of course it's all Smoke & Mirrors because it remains impossible to tell what the numbers
actually say about viewers' relationship with both shows because it was Stage 6 on the night of their premieres on Monday 17 April and South Africans have to sit in the dark most nights now.
New shows often increase their viewership as time goes on so it'll be interesting to see whether or not this happens with these new series despite how compromised these TV ratings are.
Are people still willing to try something new despite the fact that they're missing so much of the establishing circumstances? Surprisingly they are, based on these initial numbers.
If you can't see the documents above, here's an overview of the Top 5 shows per channel/broadcaster:
SABC1
| Show |
Viewers |
| Uzalo |
5,098,865 |
| Skeem Saam |
4,328,139 |
| Generations: The Legacy |
4,194,921 |
| Xhosa News |
2,398,651 |
| Zulu News |
2,398,651 |
SABC2
| Show |
Viewers |
| Muvhango |
1,366,509 |
| 7De Laan |
922,467 |
| Giyani |
851,977 |
| Ke Kgwebo Ya Ka Ye |
792,354 |
| Muvhango -O |
669,265 |
SABC3
| Show |
Viewers |
| Rise of the Planet of the Apes |
590,918 |
| News |
438,732 |
| The Estate-O |
418,028 |
| Heist |
414,978 |
| Baboons Rules of the Troop |
402,646 |
e.tv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Scandal |
4,187,577 |
| House of Zwide |
3,599,390 |
| Imbewu |
2,275,169 |
| Tsotsi |
2,125,271 |
| Mama Jack |
2,076,109 |
DStv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Gomora |
863,074 |
| Sizok'thola |
693,271 |
| Isifiso |
662,945 |
| X-Repo |
628,778 |
| Isencane Lengane |
625,904 |
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.