Citizen TV, Inooro TV, TV47, NTV, and KTN News allocated more prime time coverage to Deputy President William Ruto than the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) leader, Raila Odinga, in the third quarter of the year 2021.
K24 TV, on the other hand, covered Raila more.
This is according to the findings of the Media Report Card July - September 2021 released by Kenyans.co.ke on Friday, December 17.
The report details how the top six 2022 presidential aspirants were covered in the 7pm and 9pm (Prime Time) TV news when the viewership was at its peak. The six are Deputy President William Ruto, ODM leader Raila Odinga and One Kenya Alliance (OKA) co-principals, Musalia Mudavadi (ANC), Kalonzo Musyoka (Wiper), Gideon Moi (KANU) and Moses Wetangula (Ford-Kenya).
The report relied on footage uploaded on the YouTube channels of the leading television stations in the country for analysis.
This article compares the time allocation between Ruto and Raila, the two aspirants considered frontrunners in the August 9, 2022 elections.
A detailed analysis of the coverage of all the other aspirants and how each of the analysed TV stations allocated time to each quarterly and per month can be accessed through the Media Report Card July - September 2021.
During the period under review, the six TV stations analysed allocated a total of 2,332.36 minutes of prime time coverage to the six presidential aspirants.
Out of the 2,332.36 minutes of prime time coverage, KTN News led with 22.47% (523.97 minutes), Citizen TV was 2nd with 20.77% (484.37 minutes), Inooro TV was 3rd with 18.66% (435.33 minutes), TV47 was 4th with 15.32% (357.36 minutes), NTV was 5th with 12.71% (296.40 minutes), K24 was 6th 10.07% (234.95 minutes).
Ruto, Raila vs OKA Quarterly coverage
Out of 2,332.36 minutes, Ruto was the most covered with 38.54% (898.99 minutes), Raila was 2nd with 32.54% (758.95 minutes), Mudavadi was 3rd with 16.36% (381.55 minutes), Gideon was 4th with 7.53% (175.56 minutes), Kalonzo was 5th with 5.03% (117.32 minutes) and Wetangula was not covered as a major item in prime time news.
Ruto vs Raila Quarterly TV Coverage
In the three months, the margin between the two top contestants was so high on TV47, NTV, KTN and K24 as compared to Citizen TV and Inooro TV.
Ruto was covered more than Raila by Citizen TV and Inooro TV, while Raila enjoyed more coverage by K24 TV.
TV 47, recorded the highest margin between the two, at 66.38 minutes. Ruto got 141.33 minutes while Raila had 74.95 minutes out of the 357.36 minutes of Prime Time coverage.
NTV recorded a difference of 46.95 minutes. Ruto was given more coverage with 127.78 minutes while Raila got 80.83 minutes out of the total 296.40 minutes of Prime Time coverage.
At KTN News, Ruto led with a total of 172.12 minutes, 26.1 minutes more than Raila who got 146.02 minutes out of the total 523.97 minutes of Prime Time coverage.
K24 TV gave more coverage to Raila than Ruto, with a margin of 11.65 minutes. Raila had 92.83 minutes while Ruto got 81.18 minutes out of 234.95 minutes of Prime Time coverage.
Royal Media Services (RMS) owned Citizen TV and Inooro TV recorded the slightest margins between Ruto and Raila. At Citizen TV, Ruto got 179.87 minutes, 6.52 minutes more than Raila who had 173.35 minutes, out of the 484.37 minutes of Prime Time coverage.
Inooro TV also gave more coverage to Ruto than Raila. Ruto got 196.71 minutes, 5.74 minutes more than Raila who had 190.97 minutes out of 453.33 minutes of Prime Time coverage.
In terms of positive and negative coverage, the two contrasted each other. Positive means favourable to moderate coverage of an aspirant while negative is the unfavourable coverage.
Out of the 2,332.36 total primetime coverage, 2060.26 was positive while 272.10 was negative.
Raila was covered more positively with 750.55 minutes as compared to Ruto’s 663.88 minutes out of 2060.26 of positive prime time coverage.
Ruto was covered more negatively with 235.12 minutes as compared to Raila’s 8.4 minutes, out of 272.10 negative prime time coverage.
Summary Analysis of Ruto vs Raila Quarterly TV Coverage
Ruto was covered most by Inooro TV 21.88% (196.71 minutes), Citizen TV 20.01% (179.87 minutes), KTN News 19.15% (172.12 minutes), TV47 15.72% (141.33 minutes), NTV 14.21% (127.78 minutes), K24 9.03% (81.18 minutes).
Raila was covered more by Inooro TV 25.16% (190.97 minutes), Citizen TV 22.84% (173.35 minutes), KTN News 19.24% (146.02 minutes), K24 12.23% (92.83 minutes), NTV 10.65% (80.83 minutes),TV47 9.88% (74.95 minutes).
Monthly coverage comparison between Ruto and Raila
July 2021
In July 2021, Citizen TV, out of 101.62 minutes gave more coverage to Raila (37.90 minutes) compared to Ruto (28.90 minutes). Inooro TV, out of 56.87 minutes, gave more coverage to Raila (19.47 minutes) than Ruto (18.17 minutes).
NTV out of 89.52 minutes, gave more coverage to Raila (30.43 minutes) than Ruto (14.17 minutes). KTN News out of 107.33 minutes, gave more coverage to Raila (33.28 minutes) than Ruto (22.73 minutes).
K24 out of 55.67 minutes gave more coverage to Raila (22.38 minutes) than Ruto (10.72 minutes). TV47 out of 43.73 minutes, gave more coverage to Raila (17.67 minutes), than Ruto (10.62 minutes).
August 2021
Citizen TV out of 87.70 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (41.58 minutes) than Raila (28.47 minutes). Inooro TV out of 252.71 minutes, gave more coverage to Raila (133.65 minutes) than Ruto (109.89 minutes).
NTV out of 71.92 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (52.52 minutes) than Raila (10.35 minutes). KTN News out of 166.25 minutes gave more coverage to Ruto (71.97 minutes) than Raila (48.15 minutes).
K24 out of 110.13 minutes gave more coverage to Ruto (42.25 minutes) than Raila (42.17 minutes). TV47 out of 181.20 gave more coverage to Ruto (63.87 minutes) than Raila (19.83 minutes).
September 2021
Citizen TV out of 295.05 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (109.38 minutes) than Raila (106.98 minutes).
Inooro TV out of 125.75 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (68.65 minutes) than Raila (37.85 minutes).
NTV out of 134.97 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (61.10 minutes) more than Raila (40.05 minutes).
KTN News, out of 250.38 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (77.42 minutes) than Raila (64.58 minutes).
K24 out of 69.15 minutes, gave more coverage to Raila (28.28 minutes) than Ruto (28.22 minutes).
TV47 out of 132.42 minutes, gave more coverage to Ruto (66.85 minutes) than Raila 28.28% (37.45 minutes).
Detailed Quarterly Coverage of Each Aspirant per Media House
In the three months July to September 2021, out of the 484.37 minutes of Prime Time coverage, Citizen TV gave more coverage to Ruto 37.13% (179.87 minutes), Raila 35.79% (173.35 minutes), Mudavadi 18.73% (90.73 minutes), Gideon 4.22% (20.43 minutes), Kalonzo (4.13%) 19.99 minutes and Wetangula 0%.
Inooro TV out of the 453.33 minutes of Prime Time coverage gave more coverage to Ruto 45.19% (196.71 minutes), Raila 43.87% (190.97 minutes), Kalonzo 4.32% (18.81 minutes), Mudavadi 4% (17.40 minutes), Gideon 2.63% (11.44 minutes), Wetangula 0%.
NTV out of 296.40 minutes gave more coverage to Ruto 43.11% (127.78 minutes), Raila 27.27% (80.83 minutes), Mudavadi 13.93% (41.30 minutes), Gideon 9.39% (27.83 minutes), Kalonzo 6.29% (18.66 minutes), Wetangula 0%.
KTN News out of 523.97 minutes gave more coverage to Ruto 32.85% (172.12 minutes), Raila 27.87% (146.02 minutes), Mudavadi 18.34% (96.08 minutes), Gideon 15.89% (83.23 minutes), Kalonzo 5.06% (26.52 minutes), Wetangula 0%.
K24 out of 234.95 minutes gave more coverage to Raila 39.51% (92.83 minutes), Ruto 34.55% (81.18 minutes), Mudavadi 14.64% (34.41 minutes), Gideon 6.85% (16.08 minutes), Kalonzo 4.44% (10.45 minutes), Wetangula 0%.
TV47 out of 357.36 minutes gave more coverage to Ruto 39.55% (141.33 minutes), Mudavadi 28.44% (101.63 minutes), Raila 20.97% (74.95 minutes), Kalonzo 6.41% (22.92 minutes), Gideon 4.63% (16.53 minutes), Wetangula 0%.
Click here to download the full report.
