Global Media Intelligence 2021: South Africa

Noteworthy in 2021

Digital video and time-shifted TV grew their audiences.

  • South Africa’s digital video audience first surpassed the live TV audience in 2020. This year, that gap was much wider. In H1 2021, 82.7% of internet users ages 16 to 64 had watched broadcast TV in the previous month, while 95.2% had streamed video from a digital source.
  • Time-shifted TV viewing was also more popular in H1 2021 than a year prior. More than 64% of internet users had recorded TV shows in the previous month, while nearly 73% used broadcasters’ on-demand and catch-up services.
  • Following a sharp rise in 2020, the share of respondents watching subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) services like Netflix reached a new high again this year, at 81.0%. As before, internet users in affluent homes were most likely to have watched TV shows or movies via SVOD. Penetration had risen in all cohorts, but remained lowest (54.0%) in the oldest group, ages 55 to 64.

authors

Karin von Abrams

Contributors

Anam Baig
Senior Report Editor
Joanne DiCamillo
Senior Production Artist
Donte Gibson
Senior Chart Editor
Kathleen Hamblin
Director, Charts
Dana Hill
Director, Production
Erika Huber
Senior Copy Editor
Magenta Fox
Senior Chart Editor
Hilary Rengert
VP, Research Strategy
Amanda Silvestri
Senior Copy Editor
Ali Young
Copy Editor

"Behind the Numbers" Podcast