Average daily TV viewing figures for Croatia by week in 2020 compared to the same week in 2019:
Week Eight (from 17.02 to 23.02 this year; it was from 18.02 to 24.02 in 2019) was the week before news of the first COVID-19 patient in Croatia hit, on 24.02. Average daily viewing figures that week were much the same as for the equivalent week the year before. Once COVID-19 appeared, however, TV viewing in Croatia spiked compared to last year.
Week 12 is the last for which data is available. It ran from 16.03 to 22.03 and shows the highest rate of growth in TV viewing on the week before.
On Saturday, 22.03.20, the capital Zagreb, already in the throes of the fight against COVID-19, was hit by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in 140 years. TV viewing had already reached extreme heights, with an average watch time of 7 hours and 12 minutes. This is the highest average daily individual watch time since recording started in Croatia on 01.01.2003. On Sunday, 22.03.2020, almost a third of the population was watching TV during any given minute, while the maximum AMR% for TV was 53.49%, recorded at 20:33, during the headlines on the national channels.
TV viewing is rising sharply in Croatia, especially among younger target groups. Below we compare the results for the weeks of 16-22.03 (Week 12) and 09-15.03 (Week 11).
Growth was highest for the youngest target group, who haven’t been attending school since 16.03, the beginning of the week in question. Kids from all over Croatia are following their school programs at home on two TV channels and over the internet. As a result, so-called unreferenced viewing, or viewing using the TV screen for YouTube videos, content from the internet, games, SVOD platforms, or minor channels not in the referencing system, has been rising. Consumption of unreferenced material in Croatia is up 99% with the 10-14 age group and 58% with the 15-19 age group.
The following table compares TV viewing figures for last week to the same week last year for the different target groups. The most significant growth is for groups not normally found in front of TV screens. It is all quite understandable and logical, but the percentages of growth are really high.
The comparative figures for the last two weeks in neighboring countries are as follows:
- In Slovenia, average individual daily watch time was up 27 minutes, from 04:34 to 05:01
- In Serbia, it was up almost a full hour, from 05:58 to 06:54
- In Hungary, it was up 39 minutes, from 04:54 to 05:31
- In Cyprus, it was up 43 minutes, from 04:43 to 05:25
- In Greece, it was up 55 minutes, from 05:54 to 06:49
- In Poland, it was up 24 minutes, from 04:48 to 05:12
- In the Czech Republic, it was up 27 minutes, from 04:13 to 04:40
- The most recent available data for Italy shows TV viewing up 6.5% during the last week of February on the week before. In Lombardy, the worst-affected region of Italy, TV viewing was up 12%.
