News Broadcasting
Bollywood makes its mark on South African TV
MUMBAI: After the news of US cable outfits offering Bollywood video-on-demand, comes the news that our filmi fare is eagerly lapped up in springbok country too.
Bollywood on 3″, a new slot on SABC (South African Broadcasting Corporation) commercial channel SABC 3 has gone into the second season of airing Bollywood movies on prime time every weekend.
SABC Regional Manager, Laurence Michelle
SABC regional manager Laurence Michelle, speaking to Indiantelevision.com said, “The Indian diaspora in SA is fairly influential, two things that we follow very closely about India are – the Indian cricket team and Bollywood.”
Here in Mumbai to attend the 2nd India International Film Convention, the exhibition floor of which has been taken up completely by the South African delegation, Laurence in an address to the audience stated, “The South African national broadcaster, SABC through its commercial TV Channel SABC 3 prides itself in its strategy of being locally rooted and globally connected. We aspire to our commitment of being bold trendsetters in broadcasting and offer our viewers appointment viewing. In line with these strategies, Bollywood was recognised as a product that has impacted greatly on Western culture for example, London’s channel 4 has a successful Bollywood slot, then there is the successfulKumars.”
Continuing he said, “The International success of the Bollywood phenomenon prompted the channel to associate itself with the global Bollywood brand and we decided to offer our viewers something completely different on a Saturday night. Bollywood affords viewers around the world an appetite of movies that offer pure escapist value. It takes viewers into a world away from our ordinary daily lives and offers us 2-3 hours of pure fun, glamour and entertainment.”
Talking about how successful Bollywood was in drawing viewership, Laurence told the audience,”The first season of Bollywood on 3 increased viewership in the slot by 30 per cent in the LSM 8-10 audiences, 110 per cent in all adults; 20 per cent in Afrikaans-speaking audiences and 670 per cent in the most popular recent Bollywood titles like Devdas, Baghban, Munnabhai MBBS, Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge and Dil Se. Apart from the overwhelming positive response received from audiences across the board, the media supported the venture incredibly well and continues to do so.”
“This is, of course, great news for you all” added Laurence speaking to the gathering of film producers.
“We have recently launched the second season of Bollywood on 3 and the audience response after the first 3 movies has yet again reflected a phenomenal increase in viewership. We experienced a 30 per cent increase in LSM 8-10, 110 per cent in English-speaking adults and a 770 per cent increase in Indian audiences.” he informed.
“At SABC we are looking forward to working closely with India,” concluded Laurence.
News Broadcasting
News TV viewership jumps 33 per cent as West Asia war draws audiences
BARC Week 8 data shows news share rising to 8 per cent despite T20 World Cup
NEW DELHI:Â Even as individual television news channel ratings remain under a temporary pause, the genre itself is seeing a clear surge in audience attention.
According to the latest data from Broadcast Audience Research Council India, television news recorded a 33 per cent jump in genre share in Week 8 of 2026, covering February 28 to March 6.
The news genre accounted for 8 per cent of total television viewership during the week, up from 6 per cent the previous week. The spike in attention coincided with escalating geopolitical tensions involving the United States, Israel and Iran, which have kept global headlines firmly fixed on West Asia.
The rise is notable because it came at a time when cricket was dominating television screens. The high-stakes stages of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, including the Super 8 fixtures and semi-finals, were being broadcast during the same period.
Despite the cricket frenzy, viewers appeared to be toggling between sport and global affairs, boosting the overall share of news programming.
The surge in genre share comes even as the government has enforced a one-month pause on publishing ratings for individual news channels. The move followed regulatory scrutiny of the television ratings ecosystem.
While channel-level rankings remain temporarily out of sight, the genre-level data suggests that when global tensions escalate, audiences continue to turn to television news for real-time updates.
