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This year’s World Cup has had the most shocking group and knockout moments according to Time magazine. The Group and the Knockout Stages held enough surprises to the millions of viewers who have been following the matches either in the stadiums or on various screens and platforms.
As the quarterfinals take place today 6th July after a 2-day break, many of the known winning teams such as Germany – the defending champions, Spain, Portugal, Argentina and Mexico were sent packing during the knock out stage. To many football pundits, predicting the outcome at this point is akin to playing Russian roulette.
Drop in viewership after Group Stage
The elimination of all African teams at Group Stage saw a significant drop in viewership within the continent. This subsequently affected the audience share by channels that have been broadcasting the matches in the respective countries. The most-watched matches during the group stage had an average total audience share of 45% out of all TV viewers in the 6 countries where GeoPoll’s Audience Measurement service runs.
There was an 8% drop between the most watched match in the group stage and during the knock off stage. The matches that had the highest viewers during the knockout stage averaged at 37% of all TV viewers in the 6 countries compared to 45% during the group stage.
The overall share of TV viewers also saw a 2% dropped from 31% during the group stage to 29% during the knockout stage.
Most watched Knockout matches
Brazil vs Mexico and France vs Argentina were the most watched games taking 57% and 46% of all TV viewers in Ghana and Rwanda respectively.
In Kenya and Nigeria, the most viewership share was when Colombia played against England. 43% of Kenyan TV viewers tuned in. In Nigeria, 20% of all TV viewers in 12 of the 36 states were tuned in. In Uganda, the most watched game was France vs Argentina which drew a TV viewer share of 24%. In Tanzania, three matches tied in attracting the highest viewership at 31%. Those matches were: Croatia vs Denmark, Belgium vs Japan and Colombia vs England.
TV Channels Share at Knock-Out Stage
The slight drop in viewership subsequently affected the overall ranking that the channels showing the World Cup had. In Uganda, Supersport and WBS achieved the highest audience share during the round of 16 at 9% against other channels that are airing the World Cup. For Supersport, this was during the match between Uruguay vs Portugal. For UBC, this was during Belgium vs Japan.
Supersport led in viewership in most of the World Cup knockout matches in Nigeria and Ghana. In Nigeria, they commanded a majority of the World Cup viewers during France vs Argentina and Sweden vs Switzerland at 12% during each of the matches. In Ghana, Supersport had the highest audience share of 26% during the match between Uruguay vs Portugal.
In Kenya, NTV achieved the highest audience share during with the match between Belgium and Japan commanding the highest share of 23% against other channels broadcasting the World Cup. In Tanzania, TBC1 achieved the highest audience share in most of the matches played during this period with the highest share being at 21% during the match between Croatia vs Denmark.