In fact, Intersexions is South Africa’s second-favourite television show across all genres, running a close second to the popular soapie, Generations, also on SABC1.

Intersexions, which is screened at 20:30 on Tuesdays, is co-produced by Curious Pictures and Ants Multimedia, in partnership with Johns Hopkins Health and Education in South Africa (JHHESA) and SABC Education, with funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Response (PEPFAR).

According to the latest TVSA viewership figures, for the week of 1 to 7 November, in which Intersexions episode four was screened, the show garnered 4 072 000 viewers. Besides Generations, Intersexions was the only show to have broken the four-million viewership mark.

Intersexions is supported through SABC Education by educational programming on 15 SABC radio stations, and is represented online with a blog, and Facebook and Twitter groups. Presently, the show has 10 491 Facebook friends, and is followed by 1 141 people on Twitter.

“We are over the moon at the overwhelmingly positive public response to Intersexions. We knew we had a first-class show on our hands, but I don’t think anyone anticipated such strong support for it – it’s often difficult for entertainment education such as this to compete against lighter entertainment and genres such as reality TV,” says Richard Delate, Country Programme Director for JHHESA.

“What’s clear also from Intersexions’ online presence is that viewers are taking the show and its lifestyle messaging on board, and interacting widely about it via social media such as Facebook and Twitter. Their willingness to engage with Intersexions and other viewers, shows that they relate to the show’s content and feel sufficiently strongly about it to propagate it themselves – which is a great feather in the Intersexions cap.”

Says Jeff Borns, of USAID: “One of the most powerful ways to impart knowledge around serious health issues such as HIV/AIDS, is to use the medium of entertainment. This is a proven communication medium that has previously been used with great success in South Africa and elsewhere – but the meteoric viewer success of Intersexions places this show in a league of its own.

“It is a given that communication is a critical tool in the efforts to prevent new infections while ensuring access to treatment for all who need it, along with interventions such as treatment. The more people are given information about how to live healthier lifestyles, protect themselves against infection and play a part in curbing new infections, the more likely they are to take heed of the messages, and here drama can make an enormous impact.

“USAID is proud to fund programming such as Intersexions. I have watched the show, and it is riveting. We trust that the series will continue to go from strength to strength, and we look forward to the announcement that it has become South Africa’s favourite show, bar none,” says Borns.