“The day begins”, “This morning” and “Hello Bulgaria” in competition for the audience’s interest

The morning information blocks are one of the most emblematic and watched programs on the polythematic channels. For most of us the day starts with them – to see the news, to understand what the weather will be like, to hear fresh or curious sports news or current political comments. Live journalistic analyzes and discussions with topical guests make the morning hours extremely interesting for the audience, charge our day and give us occasions for discussion in the family, with colleagues, friends and acquaintances.

In order to get a more complete picture of the morning information blocks viewership, broadcast by the three main national televisions – BNT 1, bTV and Nova TV, we analyzed their average ratings for the first 7 calendar weeks from the beginning of 2021:

Source: GARB Audience Measurement Bulgaria. Period: 1.01.2021-19.02.2021

We focused on three criteria to compare the ratings of the programs – age, place of residence and gender.

Traditionally, the attention of the youngest audience in the country is the most difficult to reach and keeping them in front of the TV screen is a challenge for any television.

According to GARB’s data, the young audience under the age of 18 (A 4-17) prefers the morning news block “This Morning” on bTV, and “The Day Begins” on BNT 1 retains the least attention. The group of the economically active population A 18-49 is split between the bTV and Nova, and during the observed period the program “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova has a 15% higher average rating compared to the rating of “This Morning” on bTV.

It is an indisputable fact that the morning information blocks are the most popular among people over the age of 50 (A 50+). It is clear that the group has a strong preference for the morning show on bTV. The achieved average rating of “This Morning” on bTV in the target group A 50+ exceeds that of “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova by 58% since the beginning of 2021.

To get an idea of the preference of the viewers, we divided the audience according to the place of residence – Sofia, cities and villages. In each of these audiences, bTV has the highest average rating compared to its competitors. It is interesting that the ratings of the urban audience (Cities & Towns) and the audience from the villages (Villages) of “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova TV are very close, while BNT 1 and bTV have a clear tendency for higher ratings among the audience in the villages.

For years, the female audience has established itself as more easily accessible by television than the male, whose interest is harder to hold in front of the screen.

The morning information blocks of bTV and Nova are no exception and the results that reach women in the country are higher than those of men. The show “This Morning” on bTV is the most interesting and preferred among both groups, reporting about 31% higher ratings compared to “Hello Bulgaria” on Nova.

“The day begins” on BNT 1 shows the lowest average rating among the three morning blocks, but it is important to note that it only attracts higher interest among men compared to women.

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