Measuring television audiences in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda is set to become easier thanks to US-based real-time mobile survey service GeoPoll.

GeoPoll, in a statement, says it has launched the first daily ‘Audience Measurement Service’ in these five African markets to help advertisers and broadcasters breakaway from months-old data.

The company further adds that its next-day data is set to represent ratings from more than 300 million Africans, almost a third of the continent’s 1.1 billion population.

“With this launch, GeoPoll becomes the largest TV audience measurement company in Africa,” says the company in a statement.

James Eberhard, founder of GeoPoll and parent company Mobile Accord, added in a statement, “Advertisers, brands and broadcasters have been relying upon limited data, which can’t keep up with shifting target audiences and programming.”

“Our overnight insights will give these groups a more accurate picture of consumer behaviours and preferences as they spend hundreds of millions of dollars to engage rapidly growing audiences,” said Eberhard.

Features of GeoPoll’s service more specifically include TV and Radio Audience Measurement (TAM and RAM) in half-hour time blocks and two hour time blocks respectively; viewable statistics on ratings by channel, including ranking and timeline comparisons; and the ability to measure audience by location, demographics, and psychographics.

“The launch of this service comes just in time for the FIFA World Cup, when GeoPoll will publish game viewership data from African nations as locals cheer on their teams, and global brands spend considerably on advertising,” says GeoPoll in its statement.