A record 17.5 million TV viewers, representing 20 per cent of adult viewers in Nigeria, watched the Super Eagles of Nigeria battle Iran in a match played Monday at the FIFA World Cup 2014 underway in Brazil, according to an audience poll.[blockquote right=”pull-right” cite=”GeoPoll”]“The game between Nigeria and Iran, played during prime time in Nigeria, drew 17.5 million Nigerian adult viewers or 20% of the Nigerian adult population. More than 25 million adults from all the surveyed African nations watched the Nigeria game, making it the most watched game in these markets over the first 5 days of play.”[/blockquote]
GeoPoll, said that the its Audience Measurement Service, which now offers what the company cites as the first daily TV ratings across several African markets, has shown that Nigeria’s match recorded unprecedented viewership compared to other countries on the continent.
“The game between Nigeria and Iran, played during prime time in Nigeria, drew 17.5 million Nigerian adult viewers or 20% of the Nigerian adult population. More than 25 million adults from all the surveyed African nations watched the Nigeria game, making it the most watched game in these markets over the first 5 days of play”, according to GeoPoll.
On the other hand, Ghana viewership too has remained high across all games as 3.5 million watched the opening game between Brazil and Croatia. The gripping match between Ghana and the United States on Monday attracted 2.4 million adult Ghanaian viewers.
According to the survey service, “the U.S./Ghana game aired at 10pm Ghana time, which might explain the drop in viewership numbers in the country, compared to the earlier Monday games which saw 3.1 million Ghanaian viewers. On average across the first 5 days of games, 2.2 million Ghanaians have tuned in to every hour of play.”
Soccer has also drawn strong enthusiasm across African countries by attracting peak TV viewership. For instance, during the Nigeria/Iran game, about 15% of adults aged 15+, or 25 million total across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, were watching the games, the survey further showed.
Another key highlight of the survey is that youths have been particularly interested in the games. In Ghana 1.7 million people aged 15-24 tuned in to the Germany-Portugal game, or about 18% of the youth population. In Kenya almost 900,000 aged 15-24 watched the same game, and in Nigeria 3.5 million youths were watching.
Gender also played a part as the survey spotted differences African across countries: In Ghana, more men watch the games: for the first 5 days of game play the gender split was an average of 28% female to 72% male. In Nigeria, the gender split for the World Cup games is less dramatic than in other countries: about 38% female to 62% male.
“Nigeria had the highest total viewership numbers, with 17.5 million. Both Nigeria and Ghana have had consistently high percentages of their adult population watching the games: an average of 14% per game for Ghana and 10% per game for Nigeria”, according to GeoPoll.
The data, gathered via mobile surveys in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, provides a first-ever glimpse of the fans that are tuning into the World Cup in these countries, and represents ratings from more than 300 million African citizens, said GeoPoll.
The Audience Measurement Service uses a unique panel system to compile statistically representative television and radio ratings within twenty-four hours of programs airing, the company said.
Ratings represent viewership for the top channels in each country, as determined by GeoPoll’s country research by collecting a minimum of 2000 responses daily per country, polling a different subset every four hours.
