Reactions to the 90% local content quota by SABC"The decision to introduce a 90% local content quota at the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) is here to stay and will not be scrapped after three months as previously suggested," says Hlaudi Motsoeneng. © Alexandr Chubarov – 123RF.com Media industry reactions have been mixed with some expecting audiences to drop and quality of content to follow. The reactions from the creative industry have been positive, with production houses expecting to do a lot more work. I first heard of the news from my brother who is a writer and cinematographer. For film makers, musicians and all parties involved in production, this is only good news. The SABC has already sent out commissioning briefs for new content. My brother is so excited, all the scripts and content that they have been sitting on for years may finally come to light. This will also give us the opportunity to tap into local stories and content. As an agency we don’t see the doom and gloom, our view is that if content is of good quality, then the audience numbers will follow. A good example of this is the launch of Isibaya on Mzansi Magic almost three years ago. Critics were cautious of the show and whether it would thrive. The show is now in the top 10 programmes watched on the DSTV platform. So how does local content perform in South Africa? We ran the numbers for Week Commencing 22 May 2016 and they make for interesting observations...
The numbers speak for themselves. Even against the LSM 8-10 target markets, local content is king. If the quality of programming is good, then there is nothing stopping audiences from engaging with the content. As media planners, my team and I are of the point of view that change in the media environment is a good thing, that’s what keeps our jobs interesting and challenging. Yes, we need to be cautious but with these changes, there will also be new and interesting opportunities making creative formats like content integration easier. We are looking forward to seeing the picture that will be painted in the next few months. Analysis by 25AM indicates that nearly 90% of the conversations around this topic were of positive in sentiment. Some positive reactions:Yvonne Chaka Chaka says lack of airplay was killing the local industry. So hold onto your remotes, the next few months will be interesting, and we will be following the audiences closely… About the authorMia started in the media industry as an intern fresh out of college. Inroads gave her a great opportunity to learn and discover what the ad industry was all about. She remembers her first ever client was Cell C retail, when they had just launched in South Africa. Since then,she's worked on both agency and client side, on brands like Durex, Hippo.co.za and a few more.She's also tried her hand in production, to get a better understanding of how it all works. She's now working with the UM team in media strategy. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||