SABC Defends Cancellation Of Face The Nation Amid Broader Channel Strategy And Audience Review

The SABC has addressed the ongoing discussion around the cancellation of the SABC news channel show Face the Nation (Image source: © SABC News SABC News Image credits: Luyanda Danca)

The statement

“As a public broadcaster, the SABC operates under a clear mandate to inform, educate and entertain, while ensuring that its services remain relevant, responsive to audience needs, and financially sustainable.

“In line with this mandate, the Corporation periodically undertakes comprehensive reviews of its content offering and channel strategy to ensure alignment with public value and long-term sustainability.

“The current programming changes form part of a broader channel and schedule review, which considered multiple factors, including audience performance data, content relevance, scheduling optimisation, programme costing and the evolving needs of South African audiences.

“It is important to emphasise that these decisions are not centred on any individual, but rather on the overall performance and strategic fit of programmes within the channel’s refreshed content approach.”

Audience data

The statement includes the following data for the 12-month period (April 2025 – March 2026)*, for Face the Nation benchmarked against the SABC News Channel’s primetime performance targets.

*Source: BRC TAMS, April 2025 - March 2026

“The programme’s average audience rating reflects a material and sustained underperformance against the channel’s primetime target.

“Comparative programmes in this time slot typically achieve share levels of approximately 1% to 2%,” says the SABC statement.

Competitive landscape context

The statement continues:

“Across the broader local news environment, top-performing programmes are predominantly live, rolling and event-driven formats.

“Importantly, the SABC operates within a competitive environment. While fulfilling its public service mandate, the Corporation derives more than 80% of its revenue from commercial activities with the government funding about 4% and TV Licence fees covering about 16%.

“In this context, programming decisions must balance public mandate with audience behaviour and commercial sustainability.

“The SABC emphasises that this decision forms part of a broader strategic realignment of its news portfolio, spanning both free-to-air and pay-TV services, and should not be interpreted as an isolated action relating to any individual programme or personnel.

“The SABC has, in this instance, provided audience performance data in response to significant public interest. Such disclosures are not standard practice due to commercial considerations and have been made in the interest of transparency, without establishing a precedent for future decision-making processes.

“The Corporation unequivocally confirms that this decision was free from any political interference and was guided strictly by internal editorial, strategic and performance criteria.

“The SABC remains committed to delivering high-quality, credible and relevant content in the service of the South African public.”