The Africascope results have just been released. What stands out to you about the 2018 edition?
Firstly, we can see strong growth momentum among internet users across the board. This is particularly true in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the development of lower-cost data plans has led to an increase in the number of regular internet users (at least once a week). This means that the internet is no longer used solely for practical purposes, but also for entertainment. In particular, we are seeing an increase in video downloads and streaming via free platforms such as YouTube.
Secondly, we can see that overall TV and radio viewing and listening levels are stable. Since the arrival of Nollywood and then Novelas in 2015, national channels have consolidated their audience levels and coexist fairly well with major pan-African and international channels such as Novelas, Nollywood, Trace, France 24, and TV5MONDE.
At the same time, the development of the offering—both in terms of channels (new C+ channels, Trace Africa variations, access to channels from other countries) and content (development of African productions)—is leading to a wider dispersion (in the sense of fragmentation) of audience shares.
Beyond the big picture, there are interesting developments in each individual market. For example, the A+ channel is gaining audience share in Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Burkina Faso, and Congo. In Cameroon, Passion TV (a telenovela channel broadcast by Startimes) is emerging in the top 10. As for the DRC, the TV landscape continues to change: in 2017, the Mirador channel ceased broadcasting, and in 2018, we are seeing a decline in the public channel RTNC1 in favor of Antenne A.
The highly competitive radio markets also hold a few surprises. It will also be necessary to keep an eye on newcomers such as Trace FM in Kinshasa and I-Radio in Dakar, for which the first results will be available in the next edition of Africascope.
Your main pan-African subscribers (Canal+ and France Télévision Publicité) have joined forces to meet the needs of the channels they represent in AFSS. How does this change the Africascope study?
CANAL+ and France Télévision Publicité are two long-standing partners of the study. We welcome the agreement between these two players, which should boost the pan-African and local advertising market.
The Africascope platform has never been stronger than it is today. It is the benchmark for evaluating media performance across Africa on a large scale. It is also a tremendous example of a successful partnership between African and French teams.
We hope that 2019 will mark a new stage in the development of the Africascope platform. We have big ambitions this year, with an expansion of our offering around impact measurement and also market understanding across many sectors. There is strong interest in the continent among major advertisers.
Africascope has gained considerable recognition, but Kantar TNS has many other activities in Africa. Can you tell us about your presence there
? In France, our CEO, Ketty de Falco, who took up her position almost a year ago, has made Africa a key focus for the development of our entities. Under her leadership, projects targeting the continent will multiply. Major multinationals already trust us to support them in their growth strategies on the continent in sectors as varied as consumer goods, telecoms, energy, health and beauty, and banking/insurance.
Beyond that, the strength of our network lies in our local presence. Kantar is currently the leader in Market Insight in Africa. Teams of experts based in most African countries, in French-, English- and Portuguese-speaking areas, provide daily support to African and international companies. Their level of excellence is recognized by the various players in these markets.
What other types of services do you bring to the market?
Innovation, Customer Experience, Brand & Communication, Qualitative, and Market Intelligence are the main areas of expertise in which Kantar TNS and Kantar Millward Brown operate. Kantar Media, for its part, is the global leader in audience measurement, active and a benchmark in South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya in particular. Kantar Worldpanel, a specialist in consumer panels, has also established itself in Africa and is expected to accelerate its development in the coming months.
We anticipate double-digit growth in our activities in certain countries in the region for 2019.
DTT in Côte d'Ivoire is giving audience measurement research institutes (Médiamétrie, GeoPoll, etc.) a lot to think about. How do you see the future of digital terrestrial television in Côte d'Ivoire? Are you planning to position yourself in this market? And more broadly in national markets?
It is still too early to say whether DTT will be successful in Côte d'Ivoire. However, we should welcome the opening up of the market, and I am delighted to see new operators arriving, which is a good thing for boosting the entire sector.
As I mentioned, Kantar has a strong local network in various markets, particularly in French-speaking areas. We are on the lookout for opportunities and will be ready to position ourselves when the time comes. Kantar's strength lies in its ability to combine its various skills in audience measurement, consumer panels, and ad hoc studies, as well as in its ability to mobilize its international network of experts to offer its clients the latest innovations in data collection.