The viewership numbers captured through GeoPoll’s Media Measurement service less than 2 weeks to Kenya’s general election 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 6.00- 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.
The average 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.
African Eye Report