At GeoPoll, we became interested in the impact that such coronavirus related restrictions on movement and daily life would have on media consumption in Uganda, which led our team to examine our audience measurement data for changes in viewership via television and listenership via radio. This report presents the findings from our investigations on media consumption trends.

The findings in this report represent television viewership nationally and radio ratings in Kampala from 6 a.m. to midnight. The data represents males and females aged 15 and older. Additional analysis is available by key demographics, throughout the day, and/or in different locations upon request—contact us here for more information or to request a custom report.

TV Viewership, 6 a.m. – 12 a.m.

The average TV viewership from 1^st – 17^th March 2020 was 4.5 million. The audience declined to 4.4 million between 19^th March and 8^th April 2020. NBS and NTV had the highest increase in viewership during this period amongst the top 10 stations nationally. The two channels continue providing extensive local and international coverage on the coronavirus pandemic. Al Jazeera, a predominantly news channel, recorded significant positive additions to its audience numbers over this period. This is likely because of the global news segments covering the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a recently released GeoPoll study on coronavirus related changes in daily life, GeoPoll found TV as the second most common information source for coronavirus-related news with 34% of the respondents overall. The leading information source for Ugandans specifically was radio at 44% with social media coming in third at 20% followed closely with government messages at 18%.

Kampala Radio Listenership, 6 a.m. – 12 a.m.

Radio registered an increase in the average listenership base in Kampala. On average 273,482 radio listeners tuned in from 1^st – 17^th March 2020, which increased to 343,048 after 19^th March 2020. Among the top 10 stations in Kampala, CBS Radio Buganda increased by 3% share, whereas Galaxy FM declined by 6% share. The analysis further interrogated day part listening for stations that increased ratings. It was observed that CBS Radio Buganda had an increase in all time bands across the day from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Capital FM, on the other hand, had most listeners during the breakfast show at 6 a.m. up to 4 p.m., with a notable spike from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Bukedde FM gained more audience during the midmorning show after 10 a.m. all the way to 4 p.m. during the drive show. An increase in listenership was also noted in other stations outside the top 10 list.

Learn more about GeoPoll Audience Measurement

GeoPoll’s audience measurement service is the first and only provider of daily, overnight audience measurement ratings in multiple countries throughout Africa. Developed in conjunction with Kantar Media, GeoPoll’s audience measurement service uses a unique mobile-based methodology to capture watching, listening, and reading trends in real-time, providing media owners and agencies with accurate, up-to-date data. To learn more please contact us here or sign up below to receive periodic updates via email.

The post Coronavirus’ Impact on Media Consumption in Uganda appeared first on GeoPoll.

TV News Programs: English

Overall, NTV retained a higher percentage share than NBS for both daytime and evening news programming broadcast in English. NTV at 1 and NTV Tonight each had 4% more share on average, across all days of the week, than NBS Live at 1 and NBS Live at 9. NTV at 1 was most popular among program viewers on Saturdays when the program maintained a 17% share of viewers. NBS’s program, Live at 1, was most popular on Tuesdays and Thursdays with 12% share of viewers. NTV Tonight was most popular among viewers of the program during the Monday night broadcast between 9 and 10 p.m. with 19% share. NBS Live at 9 also had the most viewers on Monday nights between 9 and 10 p.m. with 14% share during the time period.

TV News Programs: Luganda

Agataliiko Nfuufu, Bukedde 1’s news program that airs daily from 10-11 p.m., was a very highly watched program in the Luganda news category. The program had a 24% average share during the 4^th quarter of 2019. When broken down by gender, the average share was 9% higher for female viewers than male viewers. Additionally, viewership was highest for the 15-24 age group, 29% average share. The 25-34 age group followed with 21% average share, while the 35+ age group was not far behind with 19% share.

The top three Luganda TV News Programs that aired during the 7 – 8 p.m. timeslot were NTV’s Akawungeezi (18% share), Bukedde 1’s Agabutikidde (15% share), and NBS’s Amasengejje (11% share). Akawungeezi was watched by viewers of the program most on Mondays from 7 – 7:30 p.m. and was watched least on Saturdays and Sundays from 7:30 to 8 p.m.. Agabutukidde was watched most on Wednesdays and least on Mondays. Amasengejje was viewed most on Mondays from 7 – 7:30 p.m. and Tuesdays from 7:30 – 8 p.m..

Radio Breakfast Shows: English

Morning Crew, an English breakfast show program on Capital FM radio, towered above the other programs in the category with 11% share across each broadcast Monday-Friday during Q4 of 2019. Behind Morning Crew, were Morning Saga on Galaxy FM with 2.4% share and The Wake-Up Call on Spirit FM with 1.7% share.

Radio Breakfast Shows: Luganda

The top share earner of Luganda Breakfast radio shows was Super FM’s program, Zukuka, with 3.3% share. Beat FM’s Sisimuka followed with 3.1% share and Radio Simba’s program, Binsanga Wano, came in third with 2.9% share. Each of these program’s share was within a few tenths of a percent from each other, meaning competition for viewers between the programs is strong. When compared to radio breakfast shows in English, the breakfast shows in Luganda fell behind Capital FM’s Morning Crew but before Galaxy FM’s Morning Saga or Spirit FM’s The Wake-Up Call. This indicates that radio breakfast shows in Luganda are popular overall, just not as popular as the highly popular program, Morning Crew.

Night Breeze on Galaxy FM

On Tuesday evenings from 10 – 10:30 p.m., Galaxy FM broadcasts a popular radio show called Night Breeze. The program focuses on crowd-sourced advice on matters surrounding love and relationships. Before each episode, a problem is shared—either on air or via the station’s online platforms—then during the show, the listeners are prompted to call-in or share their advice regarding the problem at hand on social media.

Throughout Q4 of 2019, Galaxy FM’s average share was 2.7%, however, during Night Breeze, Galaxy FM garnered 5.7% share. The station’s audience is primarily even between male and female viewers, but during the Night Breeze program the majority of the audience is male. Rating data shows a 3% increase in share for male viewership over the average for male viewership of Galaxy FM, while female viewership only increased 1.3% share over the average for female viewership of Galaxy FM.

GeoPoll’s Audience Measurement Capabilities

As shown, GeoPoll’s granular audience measurement data is a flexible source of information. The Online Ratings Book can provide GeoPoll’s rating data based on a variety of demographic and psychographic information—like gender, age, location, LSM, etc.—in a platform that provides unique audience metrics at steady intervals throughout the day. To learn more about GeoPoll Audience Measurement, contact us today.

The post Uganda Television and Radio Ratings Report: Q4 2019 appeared first on GeoPoll.