Month after month the TV ratings reveal that the creation of
Ferguson Magic Mzansi Magic was the best thing that M-Net and DStv could ever have done. The channel headlines DStv's ratings to such an extent that it consistently dominates the platform's Top 10 shows.
The latest development to seal this deal was the premiere of the new telenovela The Queen which leapt to the Number 6 spot on DStv a week after it premiered on Monday, 1 August.
As you'll see in the
latest TAMS report for August, The Queen reached its highest viewership for the month on Monday, 8 August when it attracted 597,127 viewers.
This isn't an easy feat in the current TV climate which has become overly saturated with daily shows that demand more and more time from viewers.
The Queen's most popular episode of the month beat the most popular episode of Mzansi Magic's other daily Greed & Desire by over 180,000 viewers. It also outperformed High Rollers on free-to-air by over 100 000 viewers, which makes it a success story for pay TV.
Of course a crucial ingredient in the formula is the fact that it's been made by the popular Ferguson Films and stars crowd puller Connie Ferguson. Clearly she could star in every show and no-one would mind.
Rockville continues to headline the ratings for Season 4 with its most popular episode reaching over a million viewers, putting it neck and neck with the most popular episode of SABC3's Isidingo.
Rockville has remained a ratings success across seasons and now it's The Queen's turn to prove that she has staying power. We can never forget that The Road also started out with viewership in the 500,000s and we all know
what happened with that fiasco so let's hope The Queen doesn't go down the same Road.
Mzansi Magic has been very hush hush about the total number of episodes in the series i.e. they're refusing to disclose how many there are in total. We imagine it's because they want to see what happens with it before committing to the future.
How long will The Queen continue her reign? Keep a watch on the ratings to see what happens next.