South Africa is on the brink of one of the most game-changing moves in media measurement in decades. In September, the Broadcast Research Council of South Africa (BRCSA) announced that it had appointed GfK (an NIQ company) to design and deploy the next-generation Total Video Measurement service. This will replace the current Total Audience Measurement Survey (TAMS) as audience measurement and data analytics company Nielsen simultaneously exits SA.
While this evolution is somewhat overdue, it is certainly worth recognising both the trust and consistency that Nielsen brought to the industry in establishing an uninterrupted benchmark for television measurement, so that media planners and buyers could offer their brands an indication of ROI (even if the data was arguably flawed or incomplete).
Without this universal yardstick, the medium would have found itself facing the very same challenges as radio: the Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS) has been on pause since 2023, which has meant less granular insights, slower campaign optimisation and reduced trust and accountability in the medium across the industry.
The introduction of the Total Video Measurement will be a rather significant evolution and ‘level-up’ for advertisers, as our market moves towards a single currency that reflects how South Africans really watch content today.
However, more than a step up, it is also a chance for South African TV to lead the way; adopting the best of digital – rich, granular, individual-level insights – while retaining the mass reach and impact of the traditional TV medium.
This evolution comes at a critical juncture, as streaming in South Africa continues to boom: 15.6 million South Africans now stream content compared to 10.8 million who subscribe to pay-TV. One in four South Africans is streaming, with heavy streamers averaging five hours of daily viewing. The question for brands isn’t whether audiences are watching, but where, how and why…and the answers lie in knowing the right metrics.
It’s time to prepare
Richer measurement enhances the ability to determine success. With better data, brands can understand not just how many people saw an ad, but who they are, how they engaged, and what drove them to act.
As I often remind clients: what if broadcasters had access to the same level of data as Netflix? Suddenly, campaign planning and performance measurement would shift from blunt reach figures to nuanced insights, making every rand work harder.
This is what brands need to prepare for. The future of media measurement isn’t about chasing views; it’s about understanding audiences in a way that drives real return on investment.
If content is the vehicle, then data is the compass
Are YouTube shorts still ‘TV’? TikTok clips? Micro-dramas? High-end streaming series?
The current debate over what counts as TV misses the point. Audiences don’t care about the definition of TV; but they do care about the experience of watching. Watching video across multiple screens is the new reality, and if you could measure across those with a single currency, the conversation around what is TV becomes irrelevant.
It’s about where the audience places their most valuable attention at any given time. For brands, this means content is still the vehicle, but data is the compass. Whether your audience is leaning back on the couch with a long-form drama, or leaning in on their phone for a short clip, what matters is that you can track, compare and plan across platforms in a unified way.
The metrics that matter
So what should advertisers focus on as we enter the new era of measurement? Four things stand out:
– Audience relevance: Know exactly who you’re targeting, and why they matter to your brand. Wasted reach is wasted spend; precision ensures your message lands with who it is supposed to.
– Engagement & community: Measure beyond impressions; look at shareability, conversations, completion rates and dwell time. True impact is not just about being seen, it’s being shared, discussed and remembered.
– Adaptability: Ensure your campaigns are designed for multi-screen, multi-format, and on-demand consumption. As audiences move fluidly across screens, your brand needs to move with them.
– Brand fit: Integration that feels authentic and natural, not bolted on as an afterthought. This builds trust and equity rather than irritation or rejection.
South Africa’s fragmented landscape with its mix of rural and metro audiences, varying technologies and uneven connectivity makes these metrics even more vital. The biggest challenge isn’t the technology itself, but solving how we measure one-to-one digital media versus one-to-many broadcast media. Crack that, and suddenly the “messy soup” of disparate datasets becomes a clear picture of audience behaviour.
And for you, the advertiser?
The media industry is at a crossroads. With new measurement tools on the horizon, advertisers have a rare opportunity to plan and prepare for what they want success to look like in a converged TV and streaming world.
The bottom line?
Know the metrics that matter to your brand. Because the more robust the data, the better we can understand audiences – and the better equipped your brand will be to meet them where they are, with relevance, resonance and impact.
Leslie Adams is sales director at Reach Africa. The company connects local and international content owners with diverse audiences across the continent. As a specialist in Connected TV (CTV), Advertising Video on Demand (AVOD) and Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) monetisation, Reach Africa helps brands engage high-value audiences while enabling content owners to maximise revenue across the continent.
