Earlier this week, eTV announced major changes to their prime time schedule, which included moving its main news bulletin, eNews Prime Time, from 7pm, where it had been for over 15 years, to 8:30pm.
But can this timeslot move for the bulletin do more harm than good?
The 7pm bulletin, which has been in its slot for 15 years, has become a sort of daily appointment for its loyal viewers: viewers plan all their television viewing around having the news at 7pm, with more dramatic programming following as the night progresses
This is why programmes on channels like M-Net start at the bottom of the hour and not the top (so that viewers don't miss the 7pm hour of programming because they missed the first half hour).
This is why the SABC moved their English news bulletin from the late 8pm hour up to 7pm (and subsequently 6:30pm), and last year their Zulu bulletin to 7pm as well.
News at 7pm just works because currently not one of more than 100 tv channels available in this country broadcasts their tentpole shows at that timeslot.
A move to 8:30pm means that not only does eNews Prime Time have to compete with a greater amount of big name television shows, but also with viewers' own evening routines (putting kids to bed, etc).
But by far the greatest challenge that the 8:30pm eNews Prime Time will have to face is not about programming outside of news, but news itself:
Will viewers wait until that late timeslot for their daily fix of news?
Not only does eNews Prime Time face the challenges that all tv news broadcasters face, like online news sources, but it is shooting itself in the foot by being the absolute last news bulletin of the day.
It is higly unlikely that viewers are going to wait until that time to catch thw day's headlines, when they can get it from other channels. Afterall, we watch the news for the news and not the news reader (or do we?).
Just under 20% of viewers that watch eNews Prime Time are doing so from a DStv decoder. This means that just over 300 000 viewers have access to SABC News Channel's Prime Time News with Vabakshnee Chety and Peter Ndoro and also ANN7's Prime with Juliet Newell and Peter Stemmet (both former eNews personalities). If these viewers subscribe to at least DStv Compact, they have acces to eTV's sister channel, eNCA, which has News Night with Jeremy Maggs and Iman Rappetti as well, meaning they can get the exact same stories (along with the exact same news anchor links) at any time they want before 8:30pm.
Very few South Africans speak only English, meaning that if they want news before 8:30pm, they are spoilt for choice (if they do not have pay tv), language wise, from the SABC before eNews Prime Time airs at 8:30pm. If viewers want to retain their schedule with news at 7pm, the SABC offers an Afrikaans and an isiZulu bulletin in that slot (with English at 6:30pm).
If they do not like the SABC and really like eNews, they can get the Sotho bulletin at 5:30pm, the new Zulu bulletin at 6:30pm and the Afrikaans bulletin on Kyknet at 7pm.
Either way, viewers will know the news before the main English bulletin
There will also be those viewers that opt to just no longer watch television news at night. They get their headlines during a morning or lunchtime broadcast, the radio is good enough or they okay with reading newspapers or online sources.
And there will be those that somehow find it in their schedule to watch news at 8:30pm as well.
At this point, the fate of the 10pm eNews Late Edition is unknown. But if it does remain, it would mean that there would only be a one hour break between English news bulletins on eTV, and not much new news breaks in the space of an hour, so it will basically be a repeat an hour later.
Viewers are also creatures of habit, they expect things to remain the same. On the weekends the English eNews Prime Time stays at 7pm, which is bound to lead to confusion among more casual viewers.
However you look at it, it seems that come March 2nd when the new timeslot comes into effect, eNews Prime Time is going to experience a dip in viewership, the size of which is unknown at present.
(also spare a thought for poor Cathy Mohlahlana who anchors the bulletin on Tuesdays and Thursday nights. She is on air from 9am already on eNCA, and will be on air at 9pm at night when eNews Prime Time will now conclude, a whopping 12 hour workday. Okay, maybe there is a big break in between but your day is still messed)
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