people aged between 15-24 years prefer
the two popular newspapers. With more
men being sports enthusiasts a local
newspaper called Mwanaspoti enjoys a
bigger readership in this gender group. This, however, can be improved by
cultivating a reading culture partly by
installing more reading stations like the
National libraries or Mobile reading
zones Nationwide.
The top three magazines in Kenya are
Parents, True Love and the Saturday
Magazine. The highest readership over 30
days is just over 2 million reflecting them
as not so popular options but they have
their unique following. Conclusion
Over 56% of newspaper readers are in
rural areas and the majority of them are
men. Newspapers are also more popular
among citizens aged 35 years and above.
Newspapers and magazines have a low
penetration partly due to the time-
lapse after events occur and the time of
publication. Unfortunately, most of the
information found in the newspapers
and magazines can be found in other
media channels and this makes it have
a low demand. This points to a gloom
future of print media, progressive print
media houses should diversify into new
media to secure their going concern. It’s
noteworthy that the print media can
develop in away by diversifying into the
E-subscription services that are now
gaining ground world over.
The Kenyan media situation was greatly
leapfrogged by the migration from analog
signals to the current digital signals.
More local channels have cropped up and
floodgates of different niches are wide
open. Currently, we have even media
giants diversifying into small niches
such as farming, student’s life, children,
religion and even music.
As age-groups grow their interests’ shifts
and this calls for special channels to cater
to their shifting needs. A deeper look at
the profile of viewers, for instance, Inooro
TV (A vernacular TV station) shows that
the majority of viewers at 64% are 35
years and above with a huge portion of
the section being over 44 years. This is
an indication of special groups that were
previously left out but now they form a
share in the media pie.
According to a senior Facebook executive
by the year 2022, the majority of content
online will be video. This is a pointer as a
good number of users prefer online media,
news outlets will have to shift the content
strategy in this way.
The local media arena shows TV dominance
and more by Royal Media Services, the
standard and Nation Media. However new
entrants such as MT Kenya TV, Switch
Tv, and Other localized channels also
get a good viewership or audience based
on the specialization. This is a pointer to
gaps within the industry. KTN Home and
KTN news have almost the same market
share of 5% despite the latter being a new
entrant, less than five years old - a case of
audience research and segmentation.
With the right data and insights, Kenyan
media offers real opportunities for
expansion and growth. With literacy
levels increasing and internet access and
affordability improving in Kenya, more
people will access or consume media via
new media like blogs, social media, and
streaming sites.
Susan Ngatia is a Media & Business
development partner with Mediatec
Solutions Limited. You can engage
her on this or related matters
vide mail at: Susan.Ngatia@
mediatecsolutions.com.
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