Television station owners did not take kindly to a recent NEWS-ONE report that the newly established United Television (UTV) was the most watched television station in the country. Some have since challenged this paper to back its story with evidence.
In a quest to defend the paper’s credibility, its editorial team has succeeded in getting the most recent results of a survey conducted by Ipsos, a global market research company, into television viewership and reach in Ghana for the month of May 2014. Indeed, in this research UTV placed first in all the regions the station transmits to.
The survey conducted into television viewership and reach among residents of Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi and Cape Coast, showed that in May, 2014, UTV topped in all the regions where the survey was conducted, except in the fourth week of May when TV3 pulled even.
UTV’s lead over the other stations may be attributed to the fact that it is a predominantly Akan-speaking station and has some of the most attractive telenovelas and newly released Ghanaian movies.
ACCRA
According to the survey results available to NEWS-ONE, in the first week of May, UTV had 21 per cent of television share of viewership in Accra, while TV3 had 14 per cent, Viasat-1 had 14 per cent and GTV had 11 per cent.
In the second week, UTV topped again with 22 per cent, followed by Viasat-1 with 16 per cent, TV3 with 15 per cent and GTV with 10 per cent.
In the third week, UTV topped with 19 per cent, followed by TV3 with 16 per cent, Viasat-1 with 16 per cent and GTV with 10 per cent.
Again in the fifth week, UTV was still leading with 20 per cent, TV3 with 16 per cent, Viasat-1 with 15 per cent and GTV with eight per cent.
KUMASI
The results showed that in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region, UTV, for the first week of May, led with 28 per cent, followed by TV3 with 21 per cent, Metro with 10 per cent and GTV with nine per cent.
In the second week in Kumasi, UTV led again with 26 per cent, TV3 followed with 22 per cent, Metro with eight per cent and GTV with eight percent.
For week three, UTV led with 29 per cent, TV3 followed with 20 per cent, Metro TV with 10 per cent and Viasat-1 with eight per cent.
UTV still led in week four with 25 per cent, while TV3 followed with 22 per cent, Metro with nine per cent and GTV with eight per cent.
SEKONDI
UTV topped in the first week with 31 per cent, followed by TV3 with 28 per cent, Viasat-1 with 16 per cent and GTV with nine per cent.
Week two saw UTV leading with 30 per cent, TV3 trailing with 27 per cent, Viasat following with 17 and GTV managing nine per cent.
Week three in Sekondi still had UTV leading with 31 per cent, followed by TV3 with 25 per cent, Viasat with 15 per cent and GTV with nine per cent.
CAPE COAST
Even in the Central regional capital, UTV for the first week of May led with 28 per cent, followed by TV3 with 25 per cent, Viasat with 12 per cent and Metro with 10 per cent.
The second week saw UTV leading with 30 per cent, followed by TV3 with 28 per cent, Metro with 11 per cent and Viasat with nine per cent.
UTV still led in the third week with 30 per cent, followed by TV3 with 26 per cent, Metro with nine per cent and Viasat-1 with six per cent.
The fourth week had UTV and TV3 drawing with 25 per cent each, followed by Viasat-1 and Metro also drawing with nine per cent.
UTV in the fifth week took the lead again with 30 per cent, followed by TV3 with 25 per cent while Metro and Viasat again drew with nine per cent each.
