The Running Mate debates happened on Tuesday 19^th July 2022 in two tiers. Debate 1 featured Justina Wambui (Roots Party) and Ruth Mucheru Mutua (Agano Party), while Debate 2 pitted Azimio’s Martha Karua against UDA’s Rigathi Gachagua.

In this article, we present findings from a rapid survey we conducted immediately after the debate to gauge Kenyans’ thoughts on the debates, the topics discussed, and their conduct.

Survey Report: Kenyan Voters’ Thoughts on the Deputy President Debates

Following the Kenya Deputy President Debates 2022, we conducted a quick survey touching on various themes covered in the debates. The survey, run through the GeoPoll App, sought to understand who watched the debates, what they thought about the candidates, the topics discussed and the moderators, and the impact of the debates on their voting decisions.

We present the results in the infographic below.

Major Highlights

• The survey screened out respondents who were not registered voters. All the results are, therefore, drawn from voters (self-declared).
• 95% of the respondents said they watched or listened to the Deputy Presidential Debates
• The most popular channel to follow the debates (76%). Twenty-five percent of the respondents streamed online on channels such as YouTube and Facebook, while 12% followed the conversations live on social media. Only 9% listened to the debates on radio.
• Employment, inflation and cost of living, healthcare, corruption, and education are the most critical issues that Kenyans are putting into consideration in making political decisions.
• Most of the respondents felt that inflation and cost of living (69%), employment (64%) and corruption (60%) should have been addressed more in the debates.
• The candidates’ performance in the debates is “very likely” to influence the vote decisions for 48% of the respondents.
• Debate moderators scored reasonably high among the respondents, with the biggest proportion giving them 7/10 (25%) and 8/10(20%) ratings.
• The respondents gave a myriad of answers when we asked what they likely or didn’t like on the survey. You can access the raw answers here.
• 96% of the respondents plan to watch the Presidential Debate.

Report

About this survey

This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted on 21st and 22nd July 2022 among 623 respondents in Kenya using the GeoPoll mobile app. The sample was not demographically representative and naturally leaned towards younger people in urban areas. The sample consisted of 69% males.

To quickly conduct a scientific study on the Kenya elections or other topics, please contact GeoPoll.

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The viewership numbers captured through GeoPoll’s Media Measurement service less than 2 weeks to Kenya’s general elections give some interesting insights on viewership of the debate which was broadcast from 1700 to 2130hrs local time.

The highest TV Audience recorded during the Kenyan Presidential Debate was 9.6 Million viewers between 8.00 – 8.30pm

These insights drawn from Kenyans’ viewership of this live debate are based on region, demographic and gender. Although all seven stations showed the same video feed of the presidential debate, audience affinity to specific TV stations is clearly demonstrated in these insights.

The stations that carried the live debate were; KTN, NTV, Citizen TV, KTN News, KBC, Inooro TV and K24.

Nationwide Viewership

• The average audience that reported to have watched the Kenya Presidential debate was 8.6 Million
• The highest TV audience recorded during the Presidential Debate was 9.6 Million viewers between 8.00pm- 8.30pm
• Those aged between 25-34 year chose to first watch the Beat, a program on NTV and Double Kara soap opera  on KTN between 6- 6.30pm thus the viewership among this demographic was highest on these two stations. After 6.30pm, these audience all switched to Citizen TV for the debate
• There was a split in loyalty to K24 and NTV among viewers aged 25-34
• Viewers aged 35 and above were fewer compared to viewers in other age groups. It was observed that the 35+ were most loyal to KBC and did not switch channels much

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The avg audience that reported to have watched the Kenya Presidential debate was 8.6 Million

Viewership in Nairobi County

• Nairobi viewership remained constant from 8.30pm to 10pm at 1Million viewers
• At 7.30pm – 8pm viewers dropped from Citizen TV, KBC and NTV as KTN and KTN News gained  audiences
• The highest peak in viewership among Nairobi residents was at 9pm with a total average audience of 1Million viewers.
• KTN had the highest loyalty among women throughout the debate. The women who started watching the debate on KTN did not switch channels
• NTV had the highest loyalty among men in Nairobi throughout the debate

The female viewers affinity to KTN during the debate

Viewership in other regions outside of Nairobi County

• The female viewership dropped on Citizen TV, NTV and KTN News at 7.30pm as audiences went up at the same time on KTN
• K24 had the highest loyalty among males in other region during the debate
• An average of 8.1M viewers in all regions except Nairobi were tuned in
• At 8.30pm viewership was at 8.1M, at 9pm the regional viewership dropped to 7.6. At end of debate at 10pm – viewership was at 7.2M.

Affinity Definition
An index of loyalty, the higher the number (towards and above 1) the more frequently the selected target audience watches/listens to that particular station relative to their proportion in the sample. This is calculated by dividing the proportion for the target audience divided by the proportion for the total sample.
Example: If 100 people out of a total sample of 500 were watching Station X and when looking just at youth (age 15 to 24) 50 out of 100 youth watched, the affinity would be ((50/100) / (100/500)) = 2.5.

About GeoPoll’s Media Measurement Service

Combining Kantar Media’s expertise in audience research with GeoPoll’s mobile survey platform, Kantar-GeoPoll Media Measurement (KGMM) uses panel-based mobile surveys to collect audience measurement data for TV, radio, and print.

Stay ahead of the curve when you use KGMM data to view next-day ratings, analyze campaign performance in real-time, or target key audiences.

GeoPoll Media Measurement is currently available in  Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Afghanistan

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