[08/21] Audience Survey May 2021

Release: Immediate

10th August 2021

PR 08/21

Audience Survey May 2021

The Broadcasting Authority is pleased to announce that it has just issued the results of the audience assessment survey carried out in May 2021.  The object of this periodic audience assessment survey is to assess the viewer/listenership of TV, radio and online content and identify the preferred source of local news amongst Maltese residents aged 12+ years. The dates of assessment comprised between Sunday 23^rd May – Saturday 29^th May 2021, both dates inclusive. The survey was conducted by M. FSADNI & Associates. 

Research Methodology

For this audience survey wave, the Broadcasting Authority decided to invest in more resources. The survey sample was increased to 2,100 completed interviews (as opposed to the 1240-count sample used for previous audience survey waves).  A total of 300 interviews per day were conducted over 7 consecutive days with Maltese residents aged 12+ years, hailing from Malta’s six geographical regions (NSO, 2021).

The aggregate 2100-count audience survey sample produced statistically significant findings at a +/-2.13 confidence interval (margin of error) at a 95% confidence level.

The daily 300-count audience survey sample produced statistically significant findings at a +/-5.66 confidence interval (margin of error) at a 95% confidence level.

All interviews were conducted by CATI (computer-assisted telephone interviews) and a structured research instrument was used to compile the data.

The research findings for TV viewership and radio listenership were extrapolated to reflect Malta’s population.  This was calculated on the population statistics as outlined by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in their publication ‘World Population Day News Release’ (2020). NB. This was NSO’s most recent publication at the time of the fieldwork/data analysis.  To this end, for this extrapolation exercise, non-TV viewers and non-radio listeners were proportionately deducted from Malta’s population of individuals aged 12+ years (N=458,143). 

Worthy of mention is that although the dates of assessment of this audience study were from ‘a Sunday’ (23^rd May) to ‘a Saturday’ (29^th May), for sake of comparison with previous and future BA audience surveys, the research findings throughout the whole report are presented from Monday to Sunday. 

Salient Research Findings

A synopsis of the salient research findings emanating from the audience survey now follow.

TV Viewership, Radio Listenership & Online Viewership – An Overview

•   87% of Maltese residents are TV viewers. Of these, 52% watch both local and foreign TV, 25% watch local TV stations only and 10% watch foreign TV stations only. 

•   2 in 3 (62%) Maltese residents are radio listeners. 1.6% listen to foreign radio stations only. The remaining 38% do not listen to any radio at all. 

•  17% of all Maltese residents watch online Maltese programmes (solely produced for online portals) on online portals/platforms.

TV Viewership

Favourite genre for local TV programmes

• The news bulletin is the most favourite genre for local TV programmes, with 80% of all TV viewers indicating this as one of their favourite genres. 
• Drama is the second most favourite genre, with 39% indicating this as one of their favourite genres for local TV programmes.  This genre is more popular amongst female TV viewers (52%) as opposed to male TV viewers (24%).
• Discussions and Current Affairs is the third most favourite genre for local TV programmes, with 34% indicating this as one of their preferred genres.  This genre is mostly popular amongst TV viewers aged 31+ years. 
• Variety and Documentaries both place as the fourth most favourite genre with 15% respectively of all TV viewers indicating them as one of their favourite genres.

Most Followed TV Stations: Monday to Sunday

All of Malta’s TV Viewers were given the possibility of mentioning up to three TV stations they watched on the previous day. Out of a total of 1830 TV viewers interviewed, 18.6% said that they did not watch any television on the previous day. 

• TVM is the most watched TV station, with half of all TV viewers (50.6%) mentioning TVM as one of the three TV stations they watched on the previous day.  TVM is, in fact, the most watched station across all age cohorts and gender.
• Foreign stations (any) are the second most followed, with 42.8% having watched a foreign TV station on the previous day.  In fact, foreign stations are the second most followed across all age cohorts and gender.    
• ONE is the third most followed TV station, with 1 in 5 TV viewers (21.5%) mentioning ONE as one of the TV stations they watched on the previous day. ONE is mostly followed by the older age cohort TV viewers aged 41+ years.
• NET TV is the fourth most followed TV station, with 14.4% having watched this station on the previous day.  NET TV is also mostly followed by the older age cohort TV viewers aged 41+ years. 

Exhibit 1 – Most followed TV stations (Monday to Sunday)

(Multiple-Response Q) (n=1830)

NOTE I: Respondents were given the possibility of mentioning up to 3 TV Stations which they had watched on the previous day.  Hence, the percentages depicted in this table do NOT total up to 100%.

Exhibit 1 illustrates the most followed TV stations during Week 23^rd – 29^th May 2021. 

‘Did not watch any TV on the previous day’ refers to TV viewers who did not watch TV

on the day of assessment during that particular week.

Note: TV stations not featured in the Exhibit above have a TV viewership of less than 0.2%

Between Monday to Sunday.

Most Followed TV Timebands: Monday to Sunday

All TV Viewers (excluding TV viewers who did not watch TV on the dates of assessment) were asked to indicate all timebands during which they watched the three mentioned TV stations (including foreign stations) on the previous day.

 The three most followed TV timebands from Monday to Sunday are:

• 20:00 – 20:30 (216,417 TV viewers)
• 21:00 – 21:30 (180,638 TV viewers)
• 20:30 – 21:00 (175,185 TV viewers)

Favourite Local TV Programme

      23% of 4 local TV viewers do not have a favourite local TV programme. 

      TVM’s news bulletin is the most favourite local TV programme of 15% of all local TV viewers.  Serataron is the second most favourite TV programme with 9% of local TV viewers, followed by Liquorish with 8%.

Population Average Audience Share by Weekday and by Station

From the daily TV viewership findings, the population average audience share by weekday and by station was drawn up. This daily average audience share has been derived by totalling the aggregate daily viewership obtained by each TV station and dividing this by the number of timeslots. This daily average audience share for each TV station (in figures and percentages) is depicted in Tables 1 and 2 below.

• The highest population daily average audience share was obtained by TVM, attaining a daily average TV viewership ranging between 8,304 - 15,462, Monday to Sunday. This is equivalent to a percentage average daily TV viewership between 23.5% - 46% (Monday to Sunday).
• ONE and NET TV followed by obtaining a daily average TV viewership ranging between 2,768 - 8,463 and 1,877 – 4,900 respectively, Monday to Sunday. As a percentage, ONE’s daily average audience share ranged between 8.2% - 18.9% and NET TV’s daily share ranged between 5.6% - 11%.

Table 1 – Q8 –  TV - Population Average Audience Share By Weekday and By Station

Table 12 – Q8 –  TV – Percentage Average Audience Share By Weekday and By Station

Note I: TV viewers were given the possibility of mentioning up to 3 TV stations on the weekday in question.  For each TV station, these TV viewers were asked to indicate all time slots during which they viewed the mentioned TV station. (Multiple-response Q)

Note II: The column "NONE" refers to TV viewers, who watched TV on the weekday in question, however did not watch TV at certain timeslots (on the same day).

Note III: TV stations with ‘zero/0%’ audience on a particular weekday in the Table above denotes that their viewership (on that day) was too low to be captured. 

Types of TV reception services used for watching TV

90% of all TV viewers, use Paid Subscription as one of the reception services for watching TV.  This is the most used reception service for watching TV across all age groups and geographical regions. 11% make use of IPTV as one of the reception services, whilst 6%  use the ‘Android Box’.  2% use ‘free-to-air’ as one of the reception services for watching TV.

Radio Listenership

Most Followed Radio Stations: Monday to Sunday

All radio listeners (excluding radio listeners who did not listen to radio on the dates of assessment) were given the possibility of mentioning up to three radio stations (including foreign stations) they had listened to on the previous day.

• Bay is the most followed radio station with an audience of 1 in 5 (20%) of all radio listeners.  Bay is largely popular with the younger cohorts, with most of its listeners being radio listeners aged 12 – 30 years.
• ONE Radio is the second most followed radio station with an audience of 14%, more particularly with radio listeners aged 51+ years (22%).
• Calypso 101.8 is the third most followed station, with 11.2% of radio listeners mentioning this radio station as one of the stations they had listened to on the previous day.  Most of Calypso’s radio listeners are aged 51+ years.    
• Radju Malta 1 is the fourth most followed station with 11% of all radio listeners. Most of Radju Malta 1’s listeners are aged 51+ years.

Exhibit 2 – Q14 – Most followed Radio stations (Aggregate)

(Multiple-Response Q) (n=1305)

NOTE: Respondents were given the possibility of mentioning up to 3 Radio Stations which they had listened to

on the previous day.  Hence, the percentages depicted in this table do NOT total up to 100%.

Exhibit 2 illustrates the most followed radio stations during Week 23^rd – 29^th May 2021.

‘Did not listen to the radio on the previous day’ refers to radio listeners who did not listen to radio on the day of assessment during that particular week.

Note: Radio stations not featured in the Exhibit above have a radio listenership of less than 0.1%

Between Monday to Sunday.

Most Followed Radio Timebands: Monday to Sunday

All local radio listeners (excluding radio listeners who did not listen to radio on the dates of assessment) were asked to indicate all timebands during which they listened to the three mentioned radio stations (including foreign stations) on the previous day.

 Overall, across all radio stations, the three most followed radio timebands from Monday to Sunday are:

• 08:00 – 08:30 (92,720 radio listeners)
• 09:00 – 09:30 (84,648 radio listeners)
• 08:30 – 09:00 (84,430 radio listeners).

Favourite Local Radio Programme

• 1 in 4 local radio listeners (23%) do not have a preferred local radio programme. Radio listeners aged 31-50 years are the most radio listeners who do not have a preferred programme.
• Bay Breakfast with Daniel & Ylenia is the most favourite local radio programme with 15% of all radio listeners. This radio programme is largely preferred by the younger age cohorts, 12-40 years.
• Bonġu Calypso is the second most favourite local radio programme, with 7% of all radio listeners. This programme is largely  popular amongst radio listeners aged 41+ years.
• ONE Radio’s news bulletin is the third most favourite local radio programme with 6% of all radio listeners, the majority of these being radio listeners aged 51+ years.

Population Average Audience Share by Weekday and by Station

From the daily radio listenership findings, the population average audience share by weekday and by station was drawn up. This daily average audience share has been derived by totalling the aggregate daily listenership obtained by each radio station and dividing this by the number of timeslots. This daily average audience share for each radio station has been presented in figures and percentages, depicted in Tables 3 and 4 below.

• The highest population daily average audience shares were obtained by ONE Radio, Calypso Ten-18 and Bay on various weekdays, namely (average daily audience shares in figures and percentages):
• ONE Radio: Monday: 7381 ( 21.7%), Tuesday: 6172 (20.6%), Saturday: 6713 (29.3%), Sunday: 8399 (32%)
• Calypso TEN-18: Wednesday: 7858 (25.4%), Friday: 5822 (21.2%)
• Bay: Thursday: 5122 (15.7%).

Table 3 -  Q14  –  RADIO - Population Average Audience Share By Weekday and By Station

Table 4 -  Q14  –  RADIO – Percentage Average Audience Share By Weekday and By Station

Note I: Radio listeners were given the possibility of mentioning up to 3 radio stations on the weekday in question.  For each radio station, these radio listeners were asked to indicate all time slots during which they listened to the mentioned radio station. (Multiple -response Q)

Note II: The column "NONE" refers to radio listeners, who listened to the Radio on the weekday in question, however did not listen to it at certain timeslots (on the same day)

 Note III: Radio stations with a “zero/%” audience on a particular weekday in the Table above denotes that their listenership (on that day) was too low to be captured.