Abstract
On 31 December 2019 the first reports of Covid-19 appeared and, in order to control the spread of the disease, countries across the globe implemented social distancing and quarantine measures. This has caused what Vargo et al. (2021:13) identify as the “accelerated diffusion of emerging digital technologies”. Prior to the onset of the pandemic, there was talk of growing numbers of television viewers moving away from traditional broadcast media and pay-TV services, in favour of over-the-top streaming services (OTT), however the pandemic has accelerated this shift, on a global scale. In South Africa, a nationwide lockdown, alert level 5, was implemented on 26 March 2020 which meant that the majority of the South African population were housebound. Since the onset of the pandemic, very little research has been conducted to establish the effect of the pandemic, on the way South African’s consume television. This research conducted a study of millennial television viewers in Gauteng, South Africa, to establish the ways in which the pandemic has affected the type of television platforms used and subscribed to, considering the physical and financial ramifications of the nationwide lockdown. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase one consisted of collecting 385 online surveys, distributed using a multitude of social media platforms. Phase 2 included 20 follow-up interviews, conducted using in-person interviews, email interviews and WhatsApp interviews.
This study was inspired by the research of Tengeh & Udaokpan (2020) who looked at the effects of OTT TV platforms on pay-TV subscriptions in South Africa. Based on the findings of this thesis research, an Adjusted Television Platform Adoption Model (ATPAM) was created using the combined theories of Uses and Gratifications, Technology Acceptance (TAM) as well as Diffusion Theory. The findings indicated that, among millennials in Gauteng, over-the-top streaming services are the preferred television platform choice, with most participants using Netflix as their main source of TV entertainment. Many participants also indicated an intention to ‘cut-the cord’ with pay-TV providers, once live news and sport broadcasts become available on OTT TV platforms. The shift from pay-TV to OTT services was shown to have been accelerated, due to the financial constraints caused by the pandemic and increased time spent at home due to the lockdown. The participants of this study indicated that OTT TV would be the future of television in South Africa.