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What will surely be remembered as one of the greatest finals in World Cup history ended in triumph for Lionel Messi and Argentina. The electrifying match captivated audiences around the globe, drawing record-breaking viewership numbers across multiple markets.
The tournament was televised worldwide by select FIFA broadcast partners. In Kenya, KBC and SuperSport provided live coverage. In this post, we detail the audience viewership numbers in Kenya for the semi-final games, third place game, and the epic final delivered by the new and improved GeoPoll Audience Measurement. Dubbed GAM 3.0, GeoPoll’s offering remains the most dependable media measurement tool in Africa.
World Cup Television Viewership Numbers in Kenya
GeoPoll’s rapid survey in November 2022 predicted significant interest in the World Cup. In that study, which targeted a random sample of 1,853 GeoPoll App users in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and Uganda, 93% of respondents said they were watching or planning to watch the tournament. Most said they planned to follow the action on television (82%) and knew which channels would be carrying live broadcasts of the matches (85%).
Those predictions came to fruition as the games began with viewership building incrementally throughout the tournament before culminating in the Sunday final.
Argentina vs Croatia
For the first semi-final match on Tuesday, December 13 at 10:00PM local time in Kenya, a peak of 2.8 million adult viewers watched Argentina defeat Croatia 3-0 on either KBC or SuperSport.
France vs Morocco
The second semi-final match drew even more impressive ratings. Pitting Morocco, the first African nation to ever reach the World Cup semi-finals, against 2018 World Cup winner, France, the match at 10:00PM on Wednesday, December 14 drew peak viewership of 3.5 million adults across Kenya. Almost 1 million female viewers tuned in to KBC or SuperSport to watch the defending champions hang on to advance in a hard-fought 2-0 match.
Croatia vs Morocco
Despite coming up short in their quest for the Cup, Croatia and Morocco put on a compelling performance in the third-place playoff at 6:00PM on Saturday, December 17. The open and exciting match peaked at 3.1 million adult viewers in Kenya. Croatia eventually captured third place, defeating Morocco 2-1.
Argentina vs France
Anticipation was palpable for the 2022 World Cup Final featuring Argentina and its all-time great Lionel Messi against rising star Kylian Mbappé and defending champion France. Networks surely rejoiced as the matchup promised record-breaking viewership numbers around the world.
That promise held true in Kenya, with a staggering 8.8 million adults tuning in to either KBC or SuperSport to watch the “even better than advertised” primetime match on Sunday, December 18. This figure includes all adults that tuned in at some point during the match, with peak viewership at 6.0 million from 7-7:30PM.
8.8 million adults in Kenya viewed the final on TV
The match appealed across gender, drawing 5.8 million male and 3.0 million female viewers. KBC and SuperSport accounted for 69% of all television viewing on Sunday in the 6:00-8:30PM timeframe.
The 2022 World Cup Final ended 4-2 on penalties to Argentina after a 3-3 tie across 120 suspenseful minutes. Those 120 minutes will live on in the shared memory of Kenyan viewers for many years to come!
About GeoPoll Audience Measurement
The GeoPoll Audience Measurement service is a subscription product launched in several countries in 2014. Through a unique mobile-based methodology, GeoPoll provides accurate, up-to-date audience measurement data for various channels, which enables media houses, brands, and agencies to target their audiences and measure ROI of advertisements more accurately. Prior to the 2022 FIFA World Cup, GeoPoll leveraged its GAM service to provide detailed viewership data for both the 2018 World Cup and the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations.
For more information on GeoPoll Audience Measurement’s unique methodology and recent product updates, contact us directly today.