If you were around on TVSA in early 2007 or before that you might remember the Top 10 Most Popular Shows and Actors list that we released each month.
It died a sudden death in mid-2007, roughly around the time the site started exploding with traffic and we discovered that good intentions and force of will alone were not enough to cope with the demands that increased volumes brought.
We decided to reintroduce them this month - for an explanation of how they work, read the "About The Top 10 List" section at the end of this article.
The most popular show on TVSA in May was the SABC1 soapie Generations, followed neatly by SABC2's 7de Laan and Isidingo on SABC3. Soapies have always been popular on TVSA, which is no surprise considering their popularity on the box as well.
The Patricia Lewis reality singing competition Supersterre always generates a lot of interest when it airs a new season, and the show was in full swing in May.
The news and actuality shows like Morning Live, Special Assignment and 3rd Degree cover topics of interest that people search for. 3rd Degree, for example,
turned 10 in May and also featured a two-part series entitled
"The Tricky Issue of Race" - always a guaranteed ratings winner.
So You Think You Can Dance SA began the search for contestants to take part in the second season in early May and TVSA published all the audition details in our
Casting Calls blog.
A rebroadcast of the Bornfree Media mini-series When We Were Black aired on SABC1 through the month of May and clearly a bunch of people missed the original run of the show in 2006/7.
Set against the backdrop of the 1976 Soweto uprising, it's a love story starring
Matli Mohapeloa and
Lali Dangazele.
Rounding out the Top 10 Shows for May is the kykNET reality competition Boer Soek 'n Vrou, which was No. 4 on the
Top 20 Shows And Actors For 2009.
It's based on the hugely successful international format Farmer Wants a Wife. Precisely why Farmer doesn't just go to the sokkie and get one has never yet been adequately explained.
Most Popular Shows
Web surfers also search for information about actors and TVSA records exactly which ones they are looking for each month.
This information can provide broadcasters, production companies, artist agents, PR companies and casting agents with valuable information as to which actors are generating the most amount of interest.
If they're on this list - they're worth it.
Khanyisile Mbau is never far from the action on TVSA. She's been our top diva on the site since it launched in May 2006, providing plenty for lovers and haters alike, not to mention the idly curious.
In May she had a guest starring turn on the e.tv soapie Scandal!, playing
a version of herself, which provided a quick surge of interest in her again.
Comedian Trevor Noah was also popular in May, having hosted the 15th Annual South African Music Awards in April. He appeared at numerous standup comedy gigs in May, which had people flocking onto the Internet to find out more about him.
Now you know where they all ended up...
The shock announcement that Generations legend Connie Ferguson was
leaving the show hit in May and in the same month her Gen co-star Menzi Ngubane faced a love child scandal in real life.
Also in May, DStv darling Nonhle Thema was listed as one of FHM's Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World for 2010, which lead to her increased popularity.
Egoli veteran Ernst Eloff, who played the role of Buks Pienaar on the show since it began in 1992, died at his home last week and is sure to make the Top 10 list again next month.
DJ Sbu celebrated his May birthday in style with a trip to New York, Patricia Lewis was on the lookout for potential Supersterre and Sophie Ndaba made the headlines for supposedly dating businessman Skeem GP, who is facing a long prison sentence after being found guilty of crimes ranging from armed robbery to malicious damage to property.
A good dose of skandaal is always a good ratings booster. Even though she denied all accusations.
Rounding out the list is Cape comedian Emo Adams, who hosts Jou Show met Emo on kykNET. We've got no idea why his popularity spiked in May - we can only assume it was his continued
comedy performances around the Cape peninsula.
Most Popular Actors
About The Top 10 ListThe Top 10 Most Popular Shows and Actors list is compiled monthly by the TVSA staff. It is calculated using the top web searches that brought visitors to the website in the past month.
Web searches are determined by keywords web users typed into a search engine that brought them to TVSA.
If, for example, a web user searches for the keyword phrase "Khanyi Mbau" using search engine Google - and clicks any search result links they find on Google to arrive at TVSA - our web statistics package will record that someone visited TVSA by typing the phrase "Khanyi Mbau" into Google.
We count how many times the term "Khanyi Mbau" (or variations thereof) was recorded and select the top 10 based on that.
TVSA uses Google Analytics, which calculates which search terms were used by Internet users to find relevant information on TVSA.