The TV ratings were conducted in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana and Nigeria where both Pay TV and free- to-air channels were beaming the matches. Could this be as a result of the once traditionally favored teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Uruguay being eliminated in the earlier rounds?

France Vs Belgium Viewership in Africa

France’s national team, Les Bleus, has been christened as the only remaining ‘African team’ due to the high number of players with African origins. However, this did not reflect in the audience numbers for their game against Belgium.  Even in Rwanda, a French speaking country where the national broadcaster Rwanda TV has been broadcasting matches, the viewership was at 35% of all TV audiences, lower than the England vs Croatia match that drew 37%.

England Vs Croatia Viewership in Africa

‘The Three Lions,’ England’s team, were hoping to crush the Croatians, urged on by the slogan that the trophy was ‘going back home’. The showdown between England and Croatia drew a high viewership in most of the countries polled. Kenya had the highest total audience share with 48% of all TV viewers during the game. NTV had the highest share of the numbers with 25%.

Quarters v/s Semis – Dipping Audience?

In the respective countries polled, the audience numbers dropped from the quarter-finals to the semis. Even in traditional footballing nations such as Nigeria and Ghana, the viewership of the quarter-finals polled higher numbers than the semis.

In the quarter finals, the average audience in 12 out of the 36 states Nigerian states was at 15%, compared to just 12% during the semis. In Ghana, 25% TV viewers watched the semis, a 16% drop from those who watched the quarter-finals.

Channel Share

Kenya’s NTV achieved the highest gain in TV viewers among other channels broadcasting the matches across the polled countries. An estimated 11% of new viewers switched to NTV during the semi-finals from an average of 15% during the quarter-finals.  In Tanzania, TBC’s audience also grew by 3% during the Semis from an average of 14% during the quarters. In Rwanda, the national broadcaster gained an additional 9% of tv viewers during the semis.

TV ratings as France face Croatia

Will the TV ratings recover come Sunday during the finals? On a global scale, more than one billion fans tuned in to watch the final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil, according to final figures from FIFA and Kantar Media. We will be following the viewership in the African continent and providing you with viewership insights from the final in the days following the match. Contact us now to get deeper insights into World Cup viewership in Africa or to sign up for our audience measurement service, which provides daily TV and radio ratings for multiple countries in Africa and beyond.

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Viewership of Quarter-Finals by Audience Share

A majority of football fans in the continent tuned in as Sweden conceded 2 goals to England. The 33% average total share drawn from 6 African countries may be attributed to the timing and the ‘English Premier League’ factor. The match aired at night which is more convenient, unlike the day matches which caught many fans at work and/or away from their favorite viewing venues.  England’s whole squad of 23 players come from the Premier League whose popularity in Sub-Saharan Africa is only rivaled only by Asia. An estimated 276 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa watch the Premier League every year.

The 2^nd most watched quarter-final was between Brazil and Belgium. The match also aired at night with an average of 30% of all TV viewers watching as the Brazilians were sent packing. It was sad for many fans to see the one of the most favored World Cup football team go home. In a recent survey by GeoPoll a month to the start of the 2018 World Cup, A majority of the respondents (22%) drawn from 6 African countries predicted Brazil as the winners.

As the French team sent Uruguay home with a 2 nil defeat, an average of 30% of all TV viewing audiences tuned in. There has been a peculiarly keen interest by African fans towards the French team due to what is now been termed as the ‘African’ element. According to the South African, 17 players on France’s 23 man roster at this year’s World Cup have African roots.

The least watched quarter-final was as Croatia beat Russia on home soil to secure their chance in facing England tomorrow, Wednesday 11^th July. An average of 26% of all TV viewing audiences watched this match from across 6 countries.

Viewership of Quarter-Finals by Channel Share

NTV achieved higher audience share compared to other World Cup broadcasting channels in Kenya throughout all the matches. Their highest peak was during the Uruguay vs France where they commanded 19% of all TV viewing audiences.

In Ghana and Nigeria, Supersport had the highest channel share of 29% during the match between Uruguay vs France and a tie in channel share in Nigeria at 11% as England beat Sweden and Belgium beat Brazil to qualify.

In Uganda, Supersport and Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC) had the highest viewership during quarter-finals with strong competition been observed between the 2 stations which attained an average of 9% channel share for each game.

In Tanzania, TBC1 achieves the highest audience share in all the quarterfinal matches with a 20% channel share lead during the match between Uruguay vs France

France vs Belgium Showdown

Today’s first semifinal match between France and Belgium will most likely spike the viewership from the continent as a cross-section of football fans continue to view the France team as the last standing ‘African’ team.

According to CNN, Tuesday 10^th will be the first time Belgium has contested a World Cup semifinal in 32 years. The same article notes that for Thierry Henry, his loyalties are ‘split’ between his country team France where he remains as the all-time leading scorer for the French team and his current role as the assistant coach for the Belgium national team.

Football coming home

According to FIFA, England is known as the home of football as the history of football can be traced back to Britain. Shouts of ‘Football’s coming home’ which started at the quarterfinals have now become deafening. As they face Croatia on Wednesday 11^th July, we will be following all the action to bring you the viewership numbers from across Sub-Saharan Africa

GeoPoll has been and continues to collect media audience measurement data throughout the World Cup in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Nigeria, Uganda, and Rwanda.  Contact us now to get these deeper insights into the World Cup viewership in Africa or to sign up for our audience measurement service.

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