
-- --
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Pinterest
With the brisk winter weather upon us, people will be huddled up in front of their televisions to spend a cosy night indoors. To start off TV season, here are 24 interesting facts about television from around the world.
A recent Samsung survey found that it isn't reality TV or soaps that make us most likely to tune in, but documentaries1, with 41 per cent claiming it is their favourite TV genre.
Based on the above, it is probably no surprise that Blue Planet II is currently the most watched show of 2017, peaking with 14.1 million viewers2.
In Australia, the iconic State of the Origin rugby match between Queensland and New South Wales drew in the most viewers of 2017 to date with 4.1 million people3.
Whilst in China, it's an internet-based rap reality show pulling in the viewers. The Rap of China showcase young and feisty contestants hoping for their big break into the world of hip-hop, with more than 2.5 billion views to date4
Back in the UK, Only Fools & Horses was voted the most popular sitcom of all time in Samsung's poll.
Strictly Come Dancing beat off some stiff competition when it came to the best reality or talent show.
When it comes to those in front of the camera, the USA is home to some of the best paid stars of television. According to Forbes, Dr Phil is currently the highest paid presenter in the world earning a reported $79 million (R1, 1 billion).
Sofia Vergara is reportedly the highest paid television actress at $41.5 million (R582.2 million).
And, Kim Kardashian's business empire means she is the highest paid reality star with a reported fortune of $51 million (R715.5 million).
Behind the camera, Netflix hit The Crown is the most expensive of all time, costing $130 million (R1.8 billion) to produce5.
In South Africa this year, MultiChoice added subscribers to its growing base, bringing the combined closing base (digital terrestrial television and satellite) to 11.9 million households6.
According to a MyBroadband survey of 1,587 IT professionals and tech-savvy individuals in South Africa, 73.85 per cent of respondents said they were an online pirate, while 51.17 per cent of respondents said they subscribed to a media streaming service7.
This survey also showed that Netflix was by far the most popular streaming service in the country, with 84.85 per cent of users signed up for a Netflix package.
Of those in this survey who did not subscribe to a streaming service, their primary reasons were: All my media needs are taken care of thanks to piracy - 42.27 per cent; I can't afford it - 38.08 per cent; and my internet connection at home is too slow - 37.53 per cent.
Of the respondents in this survey who did subscribe to a streaming service, 31.65 per cent said they also subscribed to DStv.
American TV show M*A*S*H takes the crown for the most-watched episode ever, with 103 million viewers tuning in for the final ever installment7.
Samsung's recent survey also shows we're watching more television than ever, with a fifth of us claiming to watch more TV now than we did five years ago thanks to on-demand technology and viewer's appetite for binge-watching.
Game of Thrones was voted in the survey as being the most-bingeable show of all8.
Game of Thrones also hit the top spot when it came to the most hotly anticipated TV show return
Size matters; Samsung research shows that 40 inches was the average TV screen size globally in 2016.
25 per cent of TVs sold in 2016 had a 50-inch screen.
90 per cent claim they would like a screen which is 60 inches big.
To date, Samsung has sold 427 million televisions around the world.
Which all makes for a lot of telly watching! Approximately eight years in our lifetime!9.
-- --
According to the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa10, the most-watched shows for April were:
Most-Watched TV Shows in SA in April 2018
Channel and Day Show Viewers
SABC 1
Mon 23 April Uzalo 9289705
Tue 17 April Generations: The Legacy 8927752
Tue 17 April Skeem Saam 7851561
SABC 2
Tue 03 April Muvhango 5536114
Wed 11 April 491 Days Book Launch 3031734
Wed 11 April 7de Laan Soap 2852458
SABC 3
Tue 10 April Isidingo: The Need 948254
Mon 02 April Sunfoil Test Series: South Africa vs Aust 884253
Mon 30 April Tropika Island of Treasure 783033
e.tv
Mon 16 April Scandal 5480679
Mon 16 April Rhythm City 4249611
Fri 06 April Just for Laughs Gags 3769236
DStv (Mzansi Magic)
Thur 19 April The Queen 1493373
Sun 22 April Our Perfect Wedding 1248130
Sun 29 April Abomama 1090747
Sources:
Samsung survey conducted amongst 2 000 adults in the UK by OnePoll, November 2017
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/blue-planet-2-most-watched-tv-show-david-attenborough-a8042171.html
http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/state-of-origin-game-three-most-watched-show-of-2017-20170713-gxab63.html
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-china-blog-41236746
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/the-crown-netflix-most-expensive-show-ever-matt-smith-a7392911.html
https://techcentral.co.za/dstv-grows-subscribers-margins-squeezed/75222/
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/broadcasting/228037-how-many-south-african-netflix-subscribers-also-have-dstv.html
http://uk.businessinsider.com/most-watched-episodes-2016-9
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4186598/How-time-spend-activities-lifetime.html
http://www.brcsa.org.za/april-2018-top-tv-programs/
Facebook
Twitter
Google
Pinterest
-- --
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
LTN, a global leader in IP-based video transport and network services, today announced that PBS has selected LTN as its IP video partner to modernize and future...
23/06/2026
LiveU will introduce its Q Era to Australia and New Zealand for the first time at ABE2026 on Stand No. 25, (July 30 31). Leading the showcase is the LU900Q, a n...
23/06/2026
Miri Technologies Inc. has begun shipping its highly anticipated V410 live 4K video encoder/decoder for streaming, IP-based production workflows and AV-over-IP ...
23/06/2026
DHD audio reports the completion of an upgrade to the audio production facilities at the Galilee headquarters of Radio Tzafon. The station broadcasts two progra...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/06/2026
Multifaceted Growth Executive Brings 20+ Years of Experience Leading Organizations Across Tech and M&E
Imagine Communications today announced the appointment ...
23/06/2026
Australians in Film and Screen Australia's talent development initiative UNT...
23/06/2026
Visual Productions Unveils RdmRelay2 Four-channel Relay Control at InfoComm 2026
Brie Clayton June 22, 2026
0 Comments
New Relay Solution Combines DMX, ...
23/06/2026
SMPTE Makes Its Standards Freely Accessible, Opening Standards Library to the Gl...
23/06/2026
The RT Toy Show Appeal has raised over 31 million since its inception in 2020 ...
23/06/2026
News Highlights:
NVIDIA technology runs 81% of the TOP500 and 90% of the systems new to the list.
26 systems on the TOP500 adopted the NVIDIA Grace CPU, up ei...
23/06/2026
Companies are asking how to build specialized AI that fits with the way their workflows actually run.
The first wave of enterprise AI was about access. Compan...
23/06/2026
Newly identified molecule strengthens the eye's response to damage in retinal disease Scripps Research discovery finds that restoring the naturally occurrin...
22/06/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
22/06/2026
Cosm has announced the appointment of David Ho as Chief Legal Officer, a newly created executive role reporting to President and CEO Jeb Terry. Ho will oversee ...
22/06/2026
Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have announced the developm...
22/06/2026
Daktronics has completed an audio control system upgrade at Petco Park in San Di...
22/06/2026
Accelerate Media has named John Willi as President and announced the launch of the Accelerate Sports Network (ASN), a prep sports media and streaming platform c...
22/06/2026
All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) and 3XBA (3 3 Basketball Association) have announced live television coverage of the annual 3XBA tournament on Friday, Jun...
22/06/2026
OWL AI has announced the appointment of Jay Prasad as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors. Prasad succeeds Josh Gwyther, who has served...
22/06/2026
CP Communications delivered RF video and audio support for TNT's Inside the NBA at the 2026 NBA Finals, providing main show coverage in San Antonio and ea...
22/06/2026
Polymarket has announced a partnership with GRID, an official esports data platf...
22/06/2026
As sports venues continue to evolve into more video-centric, fan-engagement-driv...
22/06/2026
As the regional sports production scene shifts toward streaming, this Texan helps lead the engineering behind Victory+'s growing live platform...
22/06/2026
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs
the memories of your elders [are] a scaffolding for you to build your identity on - and t...
22/06/2026
New hyper-resolution analyser EQ revealed
CEDAR Audio's all-new Icons plug-in series has just gained its newest member, Blade. Described by the compan...
22/06/2026
Turn any live input into a cinematic soundscape
Designed for use in the studio and on stage, Sampleson's latest creation is capable of taking any audio ...
22/06/2026
Adds guitar strings to Eurorack rigs
ADDAC System are renowned for their weird and wonderful synth designs, and their line-up includes plenty of gear that...
22/06/2026
FIFA World Cup 2026 fever grows, as more than one third of Australians tune in ...
22/06/2026
In our latest blog, Tim Pearson explores NAGRA Venturi, the new streaming security solution for the AI era from NAGRAVISION. Designed to aggregate and analyze ...
22/06/2026
Expanded integrations give advertisers access to distinct contextual signals acr...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
22/06/2026
Xilica today announced the release of Dynamic Voice Lift, a new feature in Xilica Designer v4.12 that brings adaptive speech reinforcement to large meeting spac...
22/06/2026
Telecom operators have seen remarkable returns from using generative AI to automate network management, customer care and back-office operations. Most of that i...
22/06/2026
Monday 22 June 2026
Official trailer released for Katie Price: Nothing to Hide,...
22/06/2026
The next era of AI will not be defined by compute alone. Its growth will be dete...
22/06/2026
Mission, Vision and Veritas - new Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) supercom...
22/06/2026
At the ISC conference running in Hamburg this week, NVIDIA is introducing new so...
22/06/2026
For the past two years, the U.S. National Science Foundation's National Arti...
22/06/2026
JUPITER, Europe's first exascale supercomputer at Germany's Forschungszentrum J lich, runs on NVIDIA Grace Hopper Superchips and NVIDIA Quantum-X800 Inf...