Nearly 2million more viewers tuned into Monday night's return of SABC1 soapie Generations than had watched Skeem Saam, which had briefly taken over the prime 8pm slot.
But the SABC might have overstated its ratings for the comeback episode.
SABC spokesman Kaizer Kganyago told the Sowetan this week: "The premiere of Generations: The Legacy went well ... we were told over 10million people were watching. This has never happened before. The highest it averaged before this was 8.6million."
But, according to the SA Advertising Research Foundation, just over 7.5million viewers tuned in to see the return of lead stars Connie Ferguson (Karabo Moroka) and Rapulana Seiphemo (Tau Mogale) and the debut of new faces.
It was, however, to be expected that the return of the country's biggest show after the axing of 16 principal actors in August would pique the interest of TV viewers
Youth drama Skeem Saam's final episode on November 28 attracted just over 5.5million viewers.
It has since returned to its usual weekdays at 6.30pm slot.
On Monday, SABC1 channel head Maijang Mpherwane promised that the show would "live up to their [viewers'] expectations". But it was quickly slated on social media, with some viewers referring to it as a "sketch".
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