It's safe! SABC backtrack on major Zaziwa change

The SABC has backtracked on a decision to move popular TV talk show Zaziwa to a new timeslot, but denies that it was because they feared a drop in viewership.

The weekly talk show, hosted by TV personality Pearl Modiadie, is often rated as the most-watched talk show in the country, amassing over 4 million viewers in May.

But fans and TV critics were shocked to learn, back in August, that the SABC planned to move the popular show to a later time slot, from 7:30pm to 9pm.

The decision would see the show go up against the likes of SABC 2's Muvhango and Mzansi Magic's The Queen.

Speculation was rife that the change would cause ratings to dramatically drop. But the SABC have moved quickly to stop that from even being a possibility.

Speaking to TshisaLIVE on Tuesday, SABC 1 spokesperson Phillip Mabitsela confirmed that the SABC have pulled the plug on the line-up change, set to be implemented from this coming Thursday (13 October).

However, he denied that the decision to move the show back to its original time slot was because they feared a drop in viewership, saying the show would do well in whatever slot it aired. 

"Zaziwa is a strong property and has been moved around the schedule for various reasons and continued to perform. The reason for moving it back to the original slot is due to previous plans falling through," Phillip said.

A new show, hosted by rapper iFani called Street Cred, was supposed to replace Zaziwa in the 6:30pm slot but has since been moved to 6pm.

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