TV viewing in April on Kyivstar TV
Who topped the TOP and how the closure of certain TV channels affected the overall rating
Last month, an important event took place for the TV market, as on 31 March, at the request of the National Council, TV1000, TV1000 Action, TV1000 World Kino, ViP Comedy, ViP Megahit, Epic Drama, Viasat History, Viasat Explore and Viasat Nature were removed from the packages of providers operating in Ukraine. Many channels from this list were traditionally included in the TOP-20, so let's find out what transformations took place in the overall rating and how Ukrainians watched TV in April in the analytics from Kyivstar TV.
We would like to remind you that while the Nielsen panel, which was engaged in TV measurement before the full-scale war, is still being updated, the market continues to focus on viewing data from OTT platforms. In turn, Kyivstar TV provides relevant information for the TV ratings of the independent agency BIG DATA UA.
TOP 20 TV channels in April 2023
Traditionally, the top TV channels of the month are led by Novy TV Channel with a share of 10.3% (+0.4 percentage points compared to March).
However, 2+2 TV channel, which broadcasts matches of the current season of the Ukrainian Football Championship, documentary premieres and has a strong film distribution network, moved up to the second place, gaining +1.4 percentage points.
In April, STB TV channel dropped to the third position, while ICTV2 moved up from the 6th position in March to the 4th position in the April rating, gaining +1.2 p.p. of share.
Next is TET TV channel with 6.5% share, which in April launched the comedy project The Adventures of Bumper and Sousa, a unique family show My Super Family and continued to broadcast the big show I Love Ukraine.
The sixth place in the TOP was taken by 1+1 Marathon, which broadcasts "United News", and the seventh place went to 1+1 Ukraine, which gained +0.5 percentage points in April. As in the previous month, ICTV, which also broadcasts the telethon, ranks 8th, having lost -0.1 p.p. of its share.
As for the 9th and 10th places, which were usually held by TV channels with a Russian-language track from the TV1000 package, their positions were confidently taken by 1+1 media channels PLUSPLUS (2.4% share) and Bigudi (1.8% share), respectively. By the way, on 21 April, Bigudi TV channel became available on the T2 network.
As for other changes related to the withdrawal of a number of TV channels, they were partially replaced in the top 20 by products from Kyivstar TV - the video library of the projects Fighter, Dog, SpongeBob and Comedy. The audience also redistributed to 2+2 and ICTV2, which became the leaders in terms of share growth.
Media groups and viewership
Traditionally, most of the TV channels included in the April 2023 ranking are part of 1+1 media group - 2+2, TET, 1+1 Marathon, 1+1 Ukraine, PLUSPLUS, Bigudi, KVARTAL TV and Comedy Central. StarLightMedia's TOP 20 includes Novy, STB, ICTV, ICTV2, and Inter Media Group's NTN channel.
Thus, 1+1 media group remains the leader in the media group ranking, having gained 34.7% of the market share (+2.1 percentage points) in April. StarLightMedia was in 2nd place with 30.9% (+1.7 percentage points), and Inter Media Group ended the month in third place with a stable 2.8% share (+0.4 percentage points).
Viewership of news content
In April, the total share of the main TV channels broadcasting the United News marathon on Kyivstar TV platform was 11.5% (-0.7 p.p. of the share compared to March). Traditionally, the most popular TV channel broadcasting the project is 1+1 Marathon, with a 1.9 percentage points lead over ICTV.
As for the other TV channels that do not broadcast the telethon but produce news content, Channel 24, the only one in the TOP 20, lost -0.2 p.p. of its share compared to March, gaining only 1.3% of the share. Pryamyy (0.6% share), Espresso (0.6% share) and Channel 5 (0.3%) traditionally have low interest among the audience.
The most popular projects on Kyivstar TV in April
As for the most popular TV series among unique subscribers who watched content on Kyivstar TV, the channels of 1+1 media group are the absolute leaders in terms of the number of titles. Thus, the first place was taken by Crazy Neighbours, which was broadcast on TET, with a huge margin of victory. In addition, 1+1 media's TOP 20 products include the TV series "The Greatest Century" and "Unfaithful" on 1+1 Ukraine, "The Adventures of Bumper and Sousa" on TET, travel show "The World Inside Out", TV series "Ex", "The Best Week of My Life", "Age Difference", "Family", "Time Bong" on Comedy Central and digital series "Sex, Insta and EIT".
StarLightMedia's TOP 20 most popular projects include Moloda, District Police Officer, House of Happiness, Tabun, Catching Kaidash, and Girls.
It is also worth noting the high viewership of Sesame Street, which is exclusively broadcast on PLUSPLUS and available for free on Kyivstar TV. According to the results of the show's broadcast from 27 March to 22 April, it leads the TOP in its category among animated series by the number of unique viewers and is among the TOP 3 animated series based on the platform's users' viewing.
In addition, since 12 April, Kyivstar TV has been offering the legendary project Avatar: The Way of Water, which has become the undisputed leader in the Movies category.
