There is hardly a podcast that has gripped the nation as hard as Podcast and Chill with MacG has. But even with its massive success on YouTube, the show is yet to capture as much interest on TV.
As entertainment commentator Phil Mphela reports, the show has not been doing as well on TV as it has been on YouTube. The show’s most watched show ever got 154 thousand views on TV, a massive difference from the 1.1 million views it has garnered on YouTube, where it was posted on 3rd December 2021. We have to admit, a podcast getting over one million views in less than a week is pretty impressive.
TV: #PodcastAndChill tv ratings
— Kgopolo (@PhilMphela) December 9, 2021
The podcast does way better on YouTube than on TV.
The lowest episode on Channel O was Sept 29th with Tbo Touch — pulling 6 890 viewers
Most viewed was the Jub Jub episode on December 1st and it pulled 154k viewers. #KgopoloReports pic.twitter.com/GdY7tmsCcT
Chillers are the most loyal fan base in the country, and they are coming out strongly to defend their favourite show. They have come up with possible reasons why the show could be doing so terribly on TV.
Many are suggesting that nobody really watches TV any more, and those who do only watch other stuff like sports and soapies. Since such shows air for a limited time (only during their time slot), their fans are forced to watch at that time. In contrast, the podcast is posted on YouTube and can be watched any time, so not too many of its fans would see the point in watching it under pressure on TV when they could do it at their own convenience later on YouTube.
Others have attributed the low ratings to their perceived failure of the channel. According to them, Channel O does not have a big viewership anyway, so there is no way that the show could have pulled a bigger audience than the channel can manage as a whole.
But tweeps have also not forgotten that MacG and his chillers made fun of The Braai Show with Cass for pulling 2 million viewers, which they think is ironic since they can’t even manage a quarter of that themselves.
However, the poor ratings could be because, as many chillers think, the episodes are more detailed on YouTube. Apparently, the TV channel cuts out some parts, such that the most juicy details are missed. Chillers would thus much rather get the full tea on YouTube instead.
Even with the low ratings on TV, there is not denying that the show is a force to reckon with. It has provided a platform on which fans can learn more about their favourite celebrities. And while this sometimes comes with a lot of drama and baggage, including tweeps calling for MacG to be cancelled, it has redefined pop culture in the country in a way we can’t ignore.