These are the primetime adult television viewing figures for May 2021.
If you can't see the listing below, then click this link to access them in a document instead:
Top Shows on TV: May 2021.
Special notes
Yoh! The SAFTAs hit a critical low
The ratings for the SAFTAs include the red carpet at 18h30, which led into the ceremony at 19h00 on Saturday 22 May.
It aired on both S3 and Mzansi Magic and was such a TV non-event that it didn't even make DStv's Top 30 list - when the majority of shows that won are on DStv!
It had a viewership of 508,267 on S3 and less than 425,360 on Mzansi Magic (the viewership of the last show on the DStv list), meaning the best case scenario is that it didn't even reach a million between the two channels.
This is a real low blow for an event about TV, and a substantial drop from the last time it was televised.
It streamed online and didn't air on TV last year because of Covid, but it aired on SABC2 the year before with
a viewership of 1,444,894.
Is it because people aren't interested in the SAFTAs?
Is it because it didn't air on SABC1 or 2?
Are people tired of virtual events?
Skeem Saam ratings turbo-boosted by MaNtuli's dirty-secret shocker
Skeem Saam catapulted back into the mid-5-millions after languishing in the 4-millions for months. It's up by a whopping 723,812 viewers
since last month.
The storyline that did it: the revelation that Kwaito's real father is John Maputla, which makes Kwaito and Tbose biological brothers after all these years of being bromance buddies.
The storyline ramped up in the week of Monday 24 to Friday 28 May with the highest viewership on the 25th.
If you can't see the documents above, here's an overview of the Top 5 shows per channel/broadcaster:
SABC1
| Show |
Viewers |
| Uzalo |
8,047,254 |
| Generations: The Legacy |
6,559,974 |
| Skeem Saam |
5,500,172 |
| Xhosa News |
3,597,676 |
| Zulu News |
3,537,701 |
SABC2
| Show |
Viewers |
| Muvhango |
4,134,974 |
| 7de Laan |
1,328,633 |
| Britain's Got Talent: The Champions |
1,153,955 |
| Kelebone |
945,883* |
| Nuus |
900,842
|
*We've put Kelebone as the fourth show because the Muvhango Omnibus listed in the Broadcast Research Council document isn't a primetime show and these documents are supposed to reflect primetime.
SABC3
| Show |
Viewers |
| Wild Metropolis |
680,196 |
| Emirates Fa Cup Chelsea vs Leiceister Ci |
678,485 |
| Sport Arena |
648,065 |
| Pirates of the Caribbean:the Curse of Th |
630,834 |
| News |
629,152 |
e.tv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Scandal |
4,942,858 |
| Rhythm City |
3,822,242 |
| Ican with Absa Drive |
3,801,261 |
| Imbewu |
3,699,382 |
| The Fate of the Furious |
2,893,217 |
DStv
| Show |
Viewers |
| Gomora |
1,333,102 |
| The Queen |
1,131,341 |
| The River |
911,936 |
| The Powerball Draw |
889,494 |
| DiepCity |
844,393
|
Please note: these ratings don't include viewership from DStv Catch Up, YouTube or Viu. They only reflect the viewership of people who watched on the night, at the time of broadcast.
For an explanation of the TAMS, please see:
The TAMS Ratings Explained.