LOW TV ratings for pre-election political debates are adding to the woes of candidate who are already fretting about the high percentage of abstentions that seem to be evident from the polls.

The public’s apparent indifference to this month’s parliamentary elections is now being confirmed by television viewing figures. Up until May 5, the highest ratings were marked when DISY leader Nicos Anastassiades was on state broadcaster  CyBC last Monday. The show was watched by 5.1 per cent of the population, though this may have had something to do with the fact that members of the public were phoning in with questions for the opposition leader.

A debate between Government Spokesman Stefanos Stefanou, DISY vice president Lefteris Christoforou and DIKO’s George Kolokasides on ANT1 last week pulled in 19,616 viewers.

But this paled in comparison to other channels’ figures; on the same day – Wednesday, April 27 – more than 106,000 viewers tuned in to watch the Champions League semi-final between Spanish teams Real Madrid and FC Barcelona on Sigma.

Mega’s Greek soap opera “Naked Angels” pulled in 95,253 viewers.

Even a debate between Anastassiades and ruling party AKEL’s Andros Kyprianou last Thursday failed to excite viewers, attracting just 24.02 per cent of the population.

The survey into the poor viewing figures was carried out by Politis newspaper.

Source: Cyprus Mail