The public broadcaster said it had also seen tremendous growth in the IsiXhosa/IsiZulu bulletins, breaking through the 4 million audience mark, while the SiSwati/SiNdebele bulletins performed well with above 2 million viewers.

The Expressions news talk show, has remained the most watched programme.

The public news service’s digital platforms are said to have recorded an impressive performance with the website SABCNews.com reaching over 2 million page views in September 2019, an increase of 22% since 2016.

With regard to YouTube Analytics, the SABC New channel recorded the largest number of views ever, with 26 million views in September 2019, beating the previous best of 22 million views in July 2018.

The broadcaster's twitter followers increased by 1.2 %, its Facebook page had a 3.1% increase, while listenership of its podcast service Iono audio downloads increased by 9% on the SABC News and Current Affairs page.

The Group Executive of News and Current Affairs, Phathiswa Magopeni described the continuous growth of SABC News audiences as a sign that the public news service is responding to the needs of citizens.

 “SABC News is very determined and successfully transforming into a citizen-centric news service, with a responsive temperament to the news and information needs of the South African public”, she said.

"The performance of the news operation is wholly attributed to the unwavering determination and commitment of SABC News’ journalists and support staff, who work under trying and sometimes dangerous circumstances to ensure that the voices of the citizens, across the board, are acknowledged and amplified," Magopeni said.

African News Agency (ANA)