Do Moroccans watch too much TV?

TV is one of the darlings of Moroccan households. Daily listening time in June 2023 per household is on average about six hours and a half. There is thus on average per day and per household at least one TV set that is on during all this time, says the Interprofessional center for media metrics (Ciaumed). It is practically the same result as in June 2022. A small screen that is on does not necessarily mean that a family member is watching it. TV also serves as background music in a Moroccan home! These audience metrics do target only 2M and the SNRT channels since the end of March 2008. The Medi1 TV channel is not included in those metrics. Furthermore, an individual aged five or more watches TV for an average of three hours and 51 minutes per day. This is practically half a day’s work, according to data from the National Time Use Survey! More than 31 million individuals had at least one contact with one of the Moroccan channels in June 2023. On an average day, public audiovisual channels (2M and SNRT combined) record on average per second approximately 5.7 million viewers between 9:15 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of programs and dramas appearing in the audience measurement charts are broadcast during this time slot of the evening, a period corresponding to prime time. In addition, most of those high audience shows are to be found on the Al Aoula and on the 2M channels. On the first channel, an entertainment show like Lala Laâroussa attracted more than 7 million viewers on June 10, 2023. Comedies, Moroccan soap operas, and news broadcasts also had some viewership exceeding 4 million. On the 2M channel, Turkish audiovisual productions had a viewership of sometimes 5 million “faithful” viewers! The Casablanca-based channel has something in common with the Al Aoula TV channel. Entertainment and social programs are positioned in the top 10 with an almost similar audience. Only are taken into account in this ranking the shows of a duration higher or equal to 10 minutes. The ranking of programs is done on the basis of their number of viewers. If a program is recurrent or broadcast several times, only the broadcast whose viewership is the best will be included in the ranking, says Ciaumed. Apart from the usual peaks in the summer, the month of Ramadan shows a record audience. Ramadan 2023 was no exception to the rule. In fact, the average daily viewing time per household is seven hours and 25 minutes. This listening time is almost one hour longer than the time recorded in June 2023. The same is true for individuals aged five or more. On average, they watch TV for four hours and 48 minutes per day. That is one hour more than in June 2023. 

F.F.