NTV’s acquisition of World Cup rights has finally paid dividends after it was revealed that the station has pipped KTN home and KTN News in the pecking order of Kenya’s TV ratings.
Nation Media Group attributes this to NTV acquiring rights to host 32 matches of the World Cup after striking a deal with Kwese Free Sports.
NMG CEO Steven Gitagama during the release of the media firm’s half year results on August 17 said the World Cup had a significant impact on growth of viewers. “During the World Cup period, NTV viewership grew by 19%.”
RELATED : WORLD CUP BOOSTS NTV RATINGS
Mr. Gitagama added that approximately 2 million viewers tuned in to NTV during the opening match.
At the event held at the Sarova Stanley Hotel, Ipsos CEO Aggrey Oriwo said NTV surged ahead of the Standard Group owned TV stations after Kenyans tuned in to watch the showpiece tournament in Russia held between June 14 and July 15.
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“World Cup was a big boost for NTV. The television station moved up the rank to a strong number 2,” said Mr. Oriwo.
Media analysts will however be keen to see for how long NTV will hold on to the spot.
In a report released by research firm GeoPoll in the last quarter of 2017, Citizen TV was the most watched channel with a rating of (27%) followed by KTN home (13%),KTN News (12%) and NTV (11%).
Standard Group however has made moves to suggest that it is not backing down without a fight.
The Mombasa Road based media house recently announced plans to launch a third TV station and recruited new presenters to replace journalists who left for Citizen TV,BBC and K24.
RELATED : KTN BETS ON FRESH TALENT
Speaking during the release of the results, NMG Chairman Dr. Wilfred Kiboro decried dwindling TV and radio revenues. This might explain why Kenyan media houses have been on a poaching spree in a bid to attract more viewers.
