AFGHAN MEDIA IN 2014: Understanding the Audience Prepared by Altai Consulting for Internews | Afghanistan - February 2015 ABBREVIATIONS AMDEP Afghanistan Media Development and Empowerment Project ANJU Afghanistan’s National Journalists Union APL Afghan Premier League BSA Bilateral Security Agreement DFID Department for International Development FGD Focus Group Discussion HCA Household Consumption Analysis IWPR Institute for War and Peace Reporting KII Key Informant Interview MoIC Ministry of Information and Culture NGO Non-Governmental Organization OTI Office of Transition Initiatives RTA Radio Television of Afghanistan USAID US Agency for International Development ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report was prepared by Holly Robinson, Arezo Malakooti, Philibert de Mercey and Eric Davin (Altai Consulting). The field research team for the audience data was managed by Atiqullah Sahibzada (project supervisor), and undertaken by Eng. Wadood (consultant), from Noma Consulting. Key Informant Interviews with media managers were conducted by Adrien Rérolle and Rateb Nabizadeh from Altai Consulting. The ratings survey was managed by Philibert de Mercey and Kamran Parwana (Altai Consulting) and undertaken by enumerators at Noma Consulting. Altai Consulting is grateful to the many stakeholders in the media field who informed these findings, and the Afghans who kindly shared their time and opinions to make this report possible. TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLES OF FIGURES 4 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 5 A. INTRODUCTION 14 B. METHODOLOGY 16 C. THE MEDIA INDUSTRY IN AFGHANISTAN: TEN YEARS OF RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS 30 1. 2002-2004 31 2. 2004-2010 32 3. Since 2010 33 4. Focusing on audience research 34 5. Conclusions: current trends and future areas of opportunity for research 35 D. AFGHAN MEDIA OUTLETS IN 2014: CONTENT, POSITIONING AND PROGRAMMING STRATEGIES 38 1. Introduction: Afghan media sector in 2014 39 2. Positioning 60 3. The programming landscape 75 4. Competition, programming and advertisement sales strategies 83 E. MARKET SHARE ACCORDING TO THE RATINGS DATA 88 1. Introduction 88 2. Usage rate 89 3. Reach 90 4. Audience share 92 F. AUDIENCE BEHAVIOUR AND PREFERENCES: DRIVERS OF AUDIENCE CHOICE 99 1. Drivers of audience choice 100 2. Outlet: Audience perception 101 3. Content: Strengths of popular programs 113 4. Pull factor: Outlet vs. content 141 G. AUDIENCE BEHAVIOUR AND PREFERENCES: CONSUMPTION HABITS 147 H. CROSS ANALYSIS 158 I. AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY: STRENGTHENING THE MEDIA’S SUSTAINABILITY 163 J. LOOKING FORWARD 168 TABLES OF FIGURES FOCUS BOXES Focus Box 1: The Rumi Music Awards and Khurshid ............................................................ 53 Focus Box 2: The Roshan Afghan Premier League (APL) ...................................................... 76 Focus Box 3: The power of the storyline: The Wadi e Gorgha example ........................... 145 FIGURES Figure 1: Research approach .................................................................................................... 16 Figure 2: Respondents Age Pyramid ....................................................................................... 21 Figure 3: Complementary segments of audience analysis ................................................... 22 Figure 4: Number of active media outlets, 2002-2010 .......................................................... 33 Figure 5: TV usage rate by hour of the day ............................................................................. 89 Figure 6: Radio usage rate by hour of the day ....................................................................... 89 Figure 7: Ownership of satellite TV equipment (2014) .......................................................... 90 Figure 8: Average daily reach, TV ............................................................................................. 91 Figure 9: Average daily reach, radio ........................................................................................ 92 Figure 10: National audience share, TV .................................................................................. 93 Figure 11: Audience share by day of the week (TV, national) ............................................... 94 Figure 12: Audience share by time of the day (TV, national) ................................................ 94 Figure 13: Khurshid’s prime time audience by day of the week (left) and gender (right) . 95 Figure 14: Audience share by native language (TV, national) ............................................... 96 Figure 15: Audience share by province, for selected outlets ............................................... 97 Figure 16: Audience share by province (Arezo, Ariana, Lemar, Tolo News) ....................... 97 Figure 17: National audience share, radio .............................................................................. 98 Figure 18: spectrum of TV channels according to innovation and audience reach ........ 101 Figure 19: Ariana's TV reach ................................................................................................... 112 TABLES Table 1: Key Informant Interviews with media managers .................................................... 17 Table 2: Example of an audience interview record ............................................................... 20 Table 3: Main characteristics of the sample, per survey ....................................................... 21 Table 4: Breakdown of brand and content testing FGD, by location and profile ............. 25 Table 5: Example HCA Journal ................................................................................................. 27 Table 6: Sampling for the HCA ................................................................................................. 28 Table 7: Average duration of media consumption per day (minutes) ................................ 90 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. INTRODUCTION Internews and Altai Consulting have a long history of monitoring the Afghan media sector, through a series of studies that have been conducted by Altai for Internews and USAID since 2004; the development of a ratings tool, which began in 2012; and the regular evaluation of Internews programs by Altai Consulting over the last 10 years. This study aims to build up on the knowledge accumulated in the past 10 years, with a specific objective of focusing the attention of the media on their audience as the dynamics of audience are an ever-shifting ground that needs constant research. This study looks at the media landscape in 2014 by focusing particularly on programming and audience and, by doing so in a manner that is immediately understandable for Afghan media, aims at encouraging them to use more of this type of data to inform their strategies and practices. 2. METHODOLOGY In order to best examine the current media environment, this evaluation was broken down into a number of qualitative research modules that looked into the Afghan media sector and their audience. It also included a further round of ratings interviews. Firstly, key informant interviews (KIIs) were undertaken with media managers from across the country and across TV, radio and Internet (29 in total: 16 TV stations, 11 radio stations, and 2 websites). Most of the findings contained in the report relate to TV, because whilst radio plays a very particular, and important role in society, TV has become the most predominant type of media used in the more densely populated urban regions of the country. Secondly, qualitative research was conducted with the audience, through two separate sets of focus group discussions and a tailored approach for household consumption analysis. This module included: • 18 brand testing FGDs, which encompassed a total of 72 respondents, across three provinces (Balkh, Kabul, and Nangarhar); • 18 content testing FGDs, which encompassed a total of 72 respondents, across three provinces (Balkh, Kabul, and Nangarhar); • Analysis of household consumption practices through a journaling and FGD approach, which led to case studies with 4 families in Kabul, 2 families in Mazar-e-Sharif, and 2 families in Jalalabad. February 2015 AFGHANISTAN MEDIA IN 2014 Understanding the Audience 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Finally, a further round of ratings interviews were conducted to provide the most up to date figures reflecting audience and market share with 2,793 respondents being interviewed. 3. ALTAI AND THE MEDIA INDUSTRY IN AFGHANISTAN: 10 YEARS OF RESEARCH The first large-scale media survey was commissioned by USAID and conducted by Altai Consulting in 2005 and the second in 2010. The 2010 study led to the initiation of regular ratings research in order to support the sustainability of the sector. It was intended to be published quarterly but only led to four rounds. More specifically: • The “Afghan Media in 2005” study: concluded that the Afghan media landscape was already fairly elaborate; that Afghan men and women were equally avid and intensive media users; that radio had a prominent role in the country, while TV was essentially restricted to urban areas; and that media had an important role in the Afghan society, not only for information or entertainment, but also for education, and was expected to take an increasing role in the future. • The “Afghan Media in 2010” study: found that the sector had become a profitable industry, and that compared to 2004, television had started to replace radio as the most consumed media type in many urban centers. Whilst the sector had become more complex and professional, media