Ad evolution: Digital overtakes traditional media

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The media landscape is evolving, presenting exciting new opportunities for brands to connect with consumers in fresh and innovative ways. Today, nearly everything on TV is available online within moments of airing, and instead of waiting for the radio to play your favourite song, you can stream it directly to your smartphone, anytime, anywhere. This digital transformation has redefined both the content we consume and how we interact with media.

Television

Eighty20 Consulting has analysed the evolving trends in television viewership and radio listenership over the last decade, leveraging Maps, a comprehensive survey of 20,000 South Africans conducted by the MRF, and comparing it to data from AMPS (2014).

The latest Maps findings reveal that 71% of adults watched at least one hour of TV in the past week (that is, linear/ live TV via a TV set, excluding streaming content), with 80% of those doing so from their homes and 12% tuning in at someone else’s house. This has dropped dramatically from 10 years ago, when 92% of adults reported watching TV weekly. An important consideration here, in this current period of changing modes of consumption (linear vs streaming), compounded by second screening, is people may recall watching a TV show on a screen, but forget whether it was streamed via YouTube on a tablet or viewed live on a traditional (dumb) TV, which affects how audiences perceive and record habits and how media analysis interpret these shifts.

In terms of ownership, roughly 79% of households now own at least one television set, with 15% of households saying they own a smart TV. Half of the households that own a smart TV still retain a dumb TV set.

This represents a significant shift compared to a decade ago, when 90% of households owned a television, with almost 100% for households with an income above R8,000 per month. Today, ownership among this income group has dropped to 87%, reflecting the changing landscape as more households adopt digital technologies and diversify their media consumption.

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The latest data on smart TV ownership indicates a notable demographic shift. Smart TV owners tend to be younger, earn roughly double the income of dumb TV owners, and are more likely to be married. 68% of all Smart TVs are in households with greater than R8,000 per month income, compared to just 53% of dumb TVs.

Despite changes in technology, SABC 1 remains South Africa's most-watched TV channel. However, eTV has overtaken SABC 2 as the second most popular channel.

These changes are reflected in advertising spend as well. PWC’s annual Entertainment and Media Outlook Report highlights the shift towards digital platforms. In 2014, TV made up 29.8% of all ad spend in South Africa, a slight dip from its 30.1% peak in 2011. At that time, internet advertising lagged behind TV. However, since 2020, digital advertising has surpassed TV, accounting for more than half of all ad spend. By 2027, digital is projected to make up two-thirds of total advertising spend, illustrating the growing dominance of online platforms, according to PWC.

Radio

Radio listenership has also declined, with recent Maps data revealing that 61% of adults in South Africa tuned in for at least one hour of radio in the past week across various devices, which is down from 83% 10 years ago. The way people consume radio has also diversified: of those who listened in the past week, 55% did so on a portable radio or Hi-Fi, while 21% listened via cell phone or tablets, 10% in their cars, 12% on TV, and 3% while at work.

Despite the drop in listenership, the most popular radio stations remain consistent. Ukhozi FM, Umhlobo Wenene FM, Lesedi FM, and Metro FM still hold the top four spots, just as they did a decade ago, albeit with fewer people listening to the radio. This drop reflects a broader shift, as more people are turning to other forms of entertainment beyond both TV and radio, driven by digital platforms and on-demand content.

New media

Recent data highlights how consumers engage with digital content, driven largely by the rise of smartphones and high-speed internet. This "Mobile First" approach means that content is now more accessible than ever before, allowing viewers to stream movies, listen to podcasts, and read articles whenever and wherever they want.

In South Africa, over 12% of adults regularly listen to podcasts, 20% stream video on platforms like Netflix and Showmax, 25% enjoy audio streaming on services like Spotify and Apple Music, and two-thirds are active on social media. What's more, 30% of South Africans consume all four types of digital content - streaming video, podcasts, audio, and social media - within a single week.

This shift has challenged media outlets that have long dominated the news landscape via TV and radio. Now, platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok are emerging as key sources of news and entertainment, particularly for younger, digital-savvy audiences. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024, 90% of South Africans access their news content online (including social media), compared to just 30% via print. Notably, YouTube is used for news by nearly a third of their sample weekly, while WhatsApp is a fifth and TikTok is now attracting more news views than X (Twitter). Traditional media outlets are finding it increasingly difficult to compete with the immediacy and reach of these digital platforms.

There has been a shift away from traditional broadcasters and content providers towards a diverse range of formal and informal creators. Platforms like YouTube are prime examples of how individual influencers, small media outlets, and private content creators can now compete for viewership alongside established media houses. With the ability to earn ad revenue simply by attracting large audiences, these new content creators are driving a significant change in media consumption, which comes through in the data.

“As the television landscape goes through this profound transformation, some may reminisce about leisurely Sundays spent with a newspaper or family TV time, while others look to a future of unprecedented flexibility and democratization of both content and how we choose to consume that content.” says Andrew Fulton, director at Eighty20.