eMedia, the biggest multimedia investment in South Africa, owns eTV and eNCA. It gained R315 million ($17 million) in profit after tax payments despite a 1% decrease in advertising spending in the country.
The company generated about 70% of the total revenue from advertising, which was R2.1 billion ($114 million) out of R3.1 billion ($168 million) total revenue, accounting for a 3% increase in revenue growth compared to last year.
eMedia, like other broadcasting companies in the country, makes a lot of profits from TV advertising, even though the decline in ad spending is due to load shedding, power cuts, and competition from online advertising. They charged at least R1.1 million($60,000) for 170 spots of 30-second short ads or more if the ad is shown during the most prime time (from 6 pm to 11 pm) on weekdays.
eMedia told its stakeholders that the company’s prime time had 33.5% of the market share, making it the top player in the South African market.
eTV, one of the channels of eMedia, has become the most popular TV channel during prime time after surpassing SABC1, which is owned by the government, with over 20% of the prime-time audience. Other channels of eMedia besides eTV l contributed to 27% of the income realized from advertising, which was R611 million($33 million).
South African TV broadcasting companies are suffering from load shedding, which has been an issue in the country for over a decade. It affects the broadcaster-advertiser relationship becauseBroadcaster Advertisers are not willing to pay extra charges for advertising due to power outages reducing the number of viewers.
In 2023, eMedia battled with similar challenges like power cuts but managed to grow a 2% increase in TV advertising revenue in the face of decreased overall TV advertising spending and still maintained top Broadcaster by audience in the South African market with eTV as the significant contributor.
