Top TV Stars Of 2012

Each year around this time we look back at what has been the best and the worst on TV. In this article we honor tv stars who kept South Africans glued to their screens in droves.  

It is evident in this country that one's star-power does not lie with the amount of support they get for their talent, or the lack there of, but what our media have to say about them. 

Anywhere else in the world (talented or not) people become famous because a huge number of people actually care about what they do whether they'd admit it or not. 

In our beloved country, it is the celebrities' journo friends who decide who becomes an A-list regardless of whether the person amasses the attention of the public's interest or not.

A person in a least watched show will be touted as the biggest TV star in this country while a person who is a lead in numerous shows that rank in millions in ratings will be ignored. 

Kim Kardashian is a big star because like her or not, her reality show is the highest rated in the world. Whether you like Justin Bieber or think he is talent-less, he is still the biggest selling pop star at the moment thus making him a big star. 

 In South Africa, with the exception of Generations, look at the names of people who are considered big stars on television. Compare that to the number of viewers who actually watch their shows and you will be shocked. 

With that we look at the people who had your attention on TV this year based on the number of ratings they ranked in. 

According to ratings, these are the Kings and Queens of SA tv;

• Queen of Talk

With a consistent run over the 1 million mark in viewership ratings, Penny Lebyane is the Queen of talk in SA. She hosts a weekly talkshow, Motswako on SABC2 which is watched by over 1.2 million South African every week. 

• Highest Rated Male

With just one show that happens to be a ratings gold, DJ Sbu is head and shoulders above his male counterparts when it comes to TV ratings pull. Sbu hosts a weekly show on SABC 1 called Friends Like These which averages about 3 million viewers each week. That's huge considering that when you look at all the other shows presented by guys, be it Magazine, Gameshow or Variety, his close competition would be Phat Joe with Real Goboza, which at its peak it averages about 2 million -- still a million below Sbu's peak.

• Highest Rated Female

The honor goes to a veteran of the screen in South Africa, mama Lillian Dube. She is a lead on 2 weekly shows that averages about 2.5 million each. That means in a week Ms Dube pulls in 5 million in ratings for SABC 2 with both her shows, Mponeng and Skwizas.

A close second could have been Pearl Thusi if she was still one of the leads on Zone 14 with added numbers from Real Goboza.

• Highest Rated TV channel

No surprise there. SABC 1 still reigns supreme as the highest rated channel in South Africa because it dominates the TOP 10 of the highest rated shows and its News and Sports coverage still ranks in millions in numbers well above their competitors

However the perception that just because a show is on SABC 1 it automatically means it is watched by millions is a farce. Not all shows on the channel are bringing in the numbers. As stated many times, shows like Selimathunzi  and Mzansi Insider barely make the 1 million mark these days. The latter has seen some better days when it hit and passed that mark but Selimathunzi hasn't seen a million viewers in years. 

• Highest Rated Reality Star

With a bombardment of reality shows this year, one garnered more ratings than the rest. Rolling With Kelly Khumalo was slated by viewers and critics but it seems the bad reviews did nothing to deter over 2 million tv sets to be tuned to etv on Saturdays to watch the show thus making Kelly the biggest Reality TV Star of 2012

• Highest Rated TV Show

The only show on South African television across all channels that can even claim to be a competition to ratings Goliath Generations has to be Zone 14. While the show has never really been a threat to its SABC 1 sister show, it has been its runner-up in ratings for Top 10 Shows in SA. The show's stars do not get much attention from the media but if we were only looking at numbers these guys would be big stars.

A very close competition to Zone 14 has been SABC1's drama Montana. The show has on occasion beat Zone 14 as the number 2 show in the land but always comes back to claim its spot. The show averaged about 4.5 million this year. Why are these guys not on covers of magazine?

NOTE: These analysis excludes SOAPS