GeoPoll measured the effects of the shutdown on media consumption in Kenya by examining our daily media measurement data and conducting an ad-hoc, nationally representative survey to gain further insights into media habits during the shutdown. Our findings show that the shutdown had a major impact on media and news consumption, with many Kenyans seeking alternative news sources, including switching their viewership to other TV stations and using online services to follow the news.

An overview of the report is below: To purchase the full report, please contact us here.

IMPACT OF THE KENYA TV SHUTDOWN ON MEDIA CONSUMPTION

Citizen TV, KTN, and NTV are the top three TV channels in Kenya, with Citizen TV alone making up 27% of audience share in Q4 2017. Given this, the shutdown had a clear and immediate effect on TV viewership in Kenya. Stations that were not turned off had a unique opportunity to gain viewers during this time, and several secondary stations including K24 and KBC were able to double or triple their viewership during the shutdown.

GeoPoll found that several of these secondary stations were able to hold onto viewers following the return of the main stations, seeing increases in viewership of up to 38% from February 9^th – 15^th as compared to the week before the shutdown.

Our report also looked at how the shutdown had an impact on overall TV consumption, finding that viewers were watching fewer hours of TV per day, and that 18% of viewers chose not to watch television at all during the shutdown. Several of the stations that were shut down utilized online streaming to reach their audience, but 65% of viewers did not turn into these online channels.

Data points in the full report include:

• Change in TV consumption patterns, including number of hours watched and locations from where TV was watched
• Uptake in consumption of new TV programs during the shutdown
• The public’s awareness of a media shutdown
• Rate of internet usage for during the shutdown period,
• The switch over to online broadcasts of the shutdown TV channels

GeoPoll’s full report on the Kenya media shutdown includes data from GeoPoll’s daily media measurement service in Kenya, as well as results from a nationally representative survey of 515 Kenyans across all 47 counties in Kenya. The full report is available for purchase by contacting us here.

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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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