Information from the Communication Authority of Kenya CA, Media Council of Kenya (MCK), and other research bodies such as GeoPoll’s data and The Kenya Advertising Research Foundation demonstrate that only a few TV stations in Kenya dominate in terms of audience size.
In a survey done in 2023 on the Status of Media report that was released in December 2023 by the Media Council of Kenya, there was a slight rise in TV viewership.
Citizen TV once again emerged as the clear leader in terms of both share and viewership, with an average of 1.7 million viewers per 30-minute time block representing 35% of all viewers in the country.
In second place was NTV with 750,000 viewers per time block representing 13% of TV viewers in the country, and third was TV47 with 600,000 viewers representing 11.5% of the viewers.
About 2 out of 5 those surveyed by MCK indicated that the News segment is the most watched in their households.
“55% of Kenyans had more time to read and listen to news and content due to COVID-19 restrictions,” MCK Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo said.
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In the 4th and 5th positions were KTN News and Inooro TV at 9 percent and 7 percent respectively.
Most notably, most TV stations in Kenya record high viewership numbers during the peak hours of between 7 pm and 10 pm.
At 7pm during the nightly news show Citizen Nipashe and the weekend version Nipashe Wikendi, Citizen’s average viewership in October was over 2.2 million, and audience numbers stayed high through the prime time schedule, never dipping below an average of 2 million viewers before 10pm.
Top 10 most-watched TV stations in Kenya
| POSITION | TV STATION | NUMBER OF VIEWERS PER 30MIN PEAK TIME | PERCENTAGE |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Citizen TV | 1,700,000 | 35% |
| 2 | NTV | 750,000 | 13% |
| 3 | TV47 | 600,000 | 11% |
| 4 | KTN News | 535,000 | 9% |
| 5 | Inooro TV | 442,000 | 7% |
| 6 | K24 TV | 296,000 | 6% |
| 7 | KBC | 271,000 | 5.8% |
| 8 | KTN Home | 130,000 | 2.8% |
| 9 | KTN Burudani | 125,000 | 2.6% |
| 10 | Kass TV | 120,000 | 2.5% |
| 11 | Gikuyu TV | 107,000 | 1.9% |
Citizen TV attracts most of the viewers for its prime-time news and local show programs. The move by Royal Media to have one local program run throughout the week from Monday to Friday after the 7 am news has seen the station gain more viewers and this has in turn increased its command in the TV broadcasting sector.
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