Nigeria versus Iran game draws millions of African TV viewers

Iran defender Amir Hossein Sadeqi vies for the ball with Nigerian forward Shola Ameobi during their 2014 Fifa World Cup on Monday. AFP 

By Mark Okuttah

In Summary

• Both Nigeria and Ghana have had consistently high percentages of adult population watching the games, an average of 14 per cent per game for Ghana and 10 per cent game for Nigeria.

Real-time mobile survey platform, GeoPoll, has released findings on World Cup television audiences in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria, ratings from more than 300 million African citizens.

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The survey shows a strong enthusiasm for soccer across African countries, with the match between Nigeria and Iran having received most viewers especially youths aged 15 to 25. Nigeria had the highest total viewership numbers at 17.5 million.

Both Nigeria and Ghana have had consistently high percentages of adult population watching the games, an average of 14 per cent per game for Ghana and 10 per cent game for Nigeria.

“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 five days of play,” read part of the report.

Data from an additional survey running in 11 African countries will be released later this week on GeoPoll’s blog.

The survey asks Africans who they think will win the World Cup, and will show trends over the first week of play as confidence levels in teams change as they win or lose games. All data is gathered from GeoPoll’s survey platform, which utilises SMS, voice and web-based communications to reach respondents, even in areas without Internet connection. 

GeoPoll’s Audience Measurement Service uses a unique panel system to compile statistically representative television and radio ratings within 24- hours of programmes airing.
Ratings represent viewership for the top channels in each country.

GeoPoll collects a minimum of 2,000 responses daily per country, polling a different subset every four hours. 

GeoPoll will be running surveys throughout the entire World Cup, reporting interesting findings on its blog and giving an unprecedented look at the soccer fan base in the largest African markets.

The findings will show where and how people are watching the games, providing invaluable insight to advertisers, broadcasters, and those following the global event