- Contents
As part of GeoPoll’s reports on TV and radio audiences in Kenya, we are pleased to release select data from July to August 2019. This data represents a small portion of the data collected by GeoPoll daily on TV and radio trends. To request custom GeoPoll Audience Measurement reports or subscribe to daily data from GeoPoll, please contact us here.
Kenya TV Ratings: Primetime
7pm – 8pm
We first examined daily audience share for the 7pm – 8pm time block from July 1st to August 31st. This time is when many of the major broadcasters air their primetime news shows. We find that Citizen leads during this time, when they air the news show ‘Citizen Nipashe,’ and ‘Nipashe Wikendi’ with an average share of 30.6% across all days of the week, however we observe differences in viewership based on day of the week, with Monday at 7pm having the highest share, at 33%, and Saturday having the lowest share of viewership. We observe slight differences in viewing patterns on Citizen at this time for male and female viewers, with female share declining consistently over the week, while male viewers tune in in higher percentages on Fridays at 7pm, when Citizen has a share of 32% for males and 29% for females.
Top 5 TV Stations: Share During 7-8pm News Hours, July 2019-August 2019
Among all viewers, KTN Home and NTV are the second and third most popular stations from 7pm – 8pm, with average shares of 11.2% and 9.7% respectively. However, KTN News has a 7.6% share, therefore the two KTN channels combined have a 18.8% audience share during this time. Unlike Citizen, KTN Home’s audience share stayed relatively consistent throughout the week in July and August 2019, with their highest shares on Friday evenings, at 13% on Friday at 7pm. NTV’s peak share during this time block came at 7pm on Tuesdays. We find that females tune into KTN Home in higher numbers than males: For example, on Wednesdays at 7pm KTN Home has a 14.8% female audience share, compared to an 8.8% male share.
8pm – 9pm
The 8pm – 9pm time block, in which channels often air various local dramas and entertainment shows, presents a similar picture to the 7pm – 8pm time block. From July to August 2019, Citizen recorded their highest viewership on Friday when the show ‘Daughters of the Moon’ often airs. They have an average share of 31.2% during this time, although we find that their share with those aged 15-24 is slightly lower, at 24.6%. Citizen’s lowest share of viewership from 8pm – 9pm is Saturday, and viewership goes up again to 29% share on Sundays when Citizen usually airs “East Africa Got Talent.”
KTN Home had the second largest share of any individual channel during this time block, averaging 12.1% over all days of the week. Their highest share is on Tuesdays, when KTN Home airs shows including “Moses and the Ten Commandments.” KTN Home is particularly popular with the 15-24 year old age group, and this group tunes in most often on Mondays, when they have a share of 17.9% among those aged 15-24 years. NTV has their highest audience share on Sundays, with a share of 15.8% from 8pm – 9pm on Sundays when the popular “Churchill show” airs, compared to an average share of 9.2% on all the other days.
Top 5 TV Stations: Share During 8pm-9pm Prime Time, July 2019-August 2019
Radio Ratings in Kenya
In terms of radio ratings, for July to August 2019 we examined three key time blocks in which radio listenership is typically high, and looked at listenership for ages 15-34. As radio is a highly regional medium, we split radio listenership into areas. The data presented here includes data for the breakfast time block (6am – 10am) for Nairobi county, data for the mid-morning time block (10am-12pm) from national rural areas, and data for the drive time block (4pm – 6pm) for national rural areas.
Nairobi Radio Listenership, Mornings
We found that in Nairobi county during breakfast time from 6am – 10am, Classic 105 dominates the airwaves during their show ‘Maina and King’ang’i”. In July and August, Classic 105 had an 19.5% audience share among the target group from 6am – 10am, and an average 20.8% share during weekday mornings. Jambo, KissFM, Radio Citizen, and Milele FM were also in the top 5 stations in Nairobi during this time period, although we find that listenership is quite fragmented, with a high portion of the audience listening to radio stations outside the top 10.
Rural Radio Listenership, Kenya
GeoPoll also examined radio share for the rural areas of Kenya, with audiences aged 15-34, during the mid-morning shows, from 10am – 12pm, and the drive time, from 4pm – 6pm. In the morning for this target audience, we find that Swahili stations Radio Citizen and Radio Maisha are the most popular stations, with 10.8% and 9.7% share respectively, followed by Radio Jambo with 8.9% share. As is expected due to the regional nature of radio broadcasts, we find that a large portion – 35% – of the target audience listens to stations outside the top 10 during the mid-morning time period.
Rural Radio Listenership, 4pm – 6pm, Age 15-34, July-August 2019
We see a similar pattern in the afternoon time period, with Radio Citizen taking the lead with a slightly higher share than the morning, at 11.6%. Radio Maisha has a 10% share with rural audiences age 15-34 from 4pm – 6pm. For both the mid-morning and the drive time periods, we find that females have a slightly higher share on Radio Citizen than males, who are more likely to listen to Radio Jambo.
The data in this post was collected from July 1st to August 31st and is a small portion of the detailed data available through GeoPoll Audience Measurement. Show names are not included in GeoPoll Audience Measurement data and were added to this report to provide additional context. These show names and air times were provided to GeoPoll from the individual stations or via desk research conducted by GeoPoll’s team, and shows may have changed throughout the time this data was collected. To learn more or subscribe to GeoPoll Audience Measurement yourself to view daily data on TV and radio, please contact us today.