Let’s face it – M-Net gets all the best shows.
OK, so that’s not entirely true, but M-Net/DSTV does pick up more new shows than the SABC. There are a number of reasons for this, such as M-Net having more money and channels available and being a bit more competent than the SABC, but that’s not what this article is about.
Instead, I want to first look at something that the SABC does fairly often, and that’s pick up shows that have previously been broadcast on M-Net or DSTV. This usually happens about two years after the original South African broadcast – my understanding is that the purchaser has exclusive broadcast rights for those two years, but after that it’s up for grabs.
I don’t think this is a bad thing. A good show is still a good show, even if it’s a couple of years old, and the majority of the South African viewing public won’t have seen these shows, which mean that they’re actually benefitting from this.
CSI and Desperate Housewives have done well on SABC3, and there are others like Grey’s Anatomy and Veronica Mars that would probably also be pretty successful. So I support the SABC in their acquisitions.
However, there is a danger in buying too many such shows. SABC3 does have shows that haven’t been shown on M-Net, and every timeslot filled with an “M-Net” show means that there’s one timeslot fewer for an “SABC” show, and the viewing public is worse off because of that.
Having said that, there are some shows which I think SABC3 could ditch, and we wouldn't be any poorer for it. This would free up some timeslots for M-Net shows, but I’ll get to that a little later.
The other idea I had is to restructure SABC3’s evening schedule. If we assume that SABC3 has to broadcast news at 19h00 and 22h00, there’s a period of two and a half hours available each evening, so why not broadcast shows that haven’t been on M-Net from 19h30 to 21h00, with an M-Net show at 21h00?
This would mean that the peak viewing times would have the new shows, with repeats later on in the evening, when viewing figures start to trail off. That seems like a sensible approach to me (although I’m a little biased here).
Now, on to the proposed restructuring. Here’s a look at what’s on this week on SABC3 (any mistakes are the fault of the SABC’s online TV guide).
Monday
19h30: The Suite Life of Zack & Cody
20h00: The New Adventures of Old Christine
20h30: George Lopez
21h00: Las Vegas
I know that SABC3 bills Monday nights as their comedy night, but would it not be better to break it up? It can be a bit too much watching one dysfunctional family after another, and it would suit my proposed schedule quite well.
If there are two and a half hours to fill each night, then one way of doing that is with one half-hour show and two one-hour shows. So shifting two of the comedies to other nights would work perfectly.
I'm also the opinion that the Suite Life should go, but if it does then it should be replaced by another comedy. So the situation isn't quite the same as with other shows that I would like to see replaced in that they would be replaced with something quite different.
Tuesday
19h30: The Apprentice
20h30: Law & Order
21h30: Special Assignment
Tuesdays on SABC3 have had an established pattern for a while now: Survivor/The Amazing Race (and now the Apprentice has been thrown into the mix), followed by Law & Order/Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Because this has worked so well in the past (and particularly because Survivor and TAR are amongst SABC3’s most popular programmes), I don’t think any changes should be made here.
Wednesday
19h30: English Premiership Highlights
20h30: Jericho
21h30: Pap & Attitude
Although I’ll support the broadcast of sport on TV, unless it’s a live match, I don’t think sport should be on during primetime. So I would get rid of the soccer highlights, which means that there’s now space for an M-Net show.
As for Pap & Attitude, I don’t know what that is, but I’d guess that it’s some sort of documentary programme as this timeslot has also featured Solving It and Medical Detectives. But is a documentary really appropriate for primetime on the SABC’s flagship channel?
Could it not perhaps be moved to SABC2, which tends to show more documentaries anyway? I’m not as dogmatic about this as I am with the English Premiership, but there’s definitely an opportunity for a replacement here.
Thursday
19h30: Top Billing
20h30: Known Gods
21h30: Font
It’s probably not a good idea to mess with Top Billing, as it’s a well established show. The only suggestion I would make is moving it to 20h00 and putting a comedy at 19h30 in between it and the News, but even that might be too much for the rabid Top Billing fans. So maybe it’s safer to leave it alone.
As for Known Gods and Font, while broadcasting local shows is obviously important, is it a good idea to have one night dedicated to local programming. There’s a possibility that people might decide to opt out of watching anything that night, on the grounds that local shows aren’t worth watching.
I don’t know if my concern is valid or not, but I do think an integrated approach might be better, as people would definitely be more inclined to try a local show if it was shown before/after an international one. So I would show Known Gods and Font on a different night.
Friday
19h30: Noted
20h00: Movie
I suppose there’s an argument that says you shouldn’t show an ongoing series on a Friday as people tend to go out then, and so will miss episodes. But the counter to that is that not everybody goes out on a Friday and those who do don’t necessarily go out every week, so at least provide them with something worthwhile to watch.
While SABC3 has shown some decent movies on a Friday night, different movies appeal to different people, whereas a series will have a more consistent appeal. And the alternatives to the SABC3 movie aren’t great – e.tv’s action movie or Noot vir Noot (before anyone gets up in arms, I’m not knocking Noot vir Noot. It’s just that it’s not for everyone).
So by dropping the movie, that means that there are two hours which could be filled with two dramas. As for the possibility of people missing episodes, then the answer is to put on shows which don’t really rely on a story arc, such as a CSI.
Finally, I’ve never watched Noted so I don’t know what it’s like, but viewing figures show that very few people watch it, which suggests that it’s not very good. So perhaps that could be dropped, leaving room for another show.
So to summarise: it’s definitely possible to bring in some more shows without sacrificing that much of the current SABC3 evening lineup. There's certainly room for three new shows, perhaps even more.
Of course, there's probably a greater chance of me winning the lottery than anything like this ever happening...