The Media Council of Kenya has today released ‘The State of the Media Report, 2023/2024’.
MCK conducted the survey between 24th February and 4th March, in all 47 counties, and further aggregated into the former 8 provincial regions of Kenya.
From the survey, TV and Radio are still king of content consumption in the country, despite talk of social media eating into the pie.
33% of respondents indicated they had consumed TV content in the last one week, while 32% mentioned radio. Social Media only garnered 18%. This was consistent with the previous year’s survey.
TV viewership
When it comes to TV viewership, the vast majority of Kenyans (75%) typically watch TV during prime hours of 7:00PM to 10:00PM.
And what stations are they watching?
To no one’s surprise, Citizen TV is still king of the airwaves, with a commanding lead of 35%. This is however unchanged from the previous year.
NTV (11%) , KTN Home (8%) , KTN News (7%) and K24 (7%) complete the top 5,
National broadcaster KBC, which was second in the 2022 survey, dropped to number 6.
Demonstrating an impressive showing is newcomer TV47. The station which literally featured nowhere in the previous survey, has taken the airwaves by storm, and is now the 8th most watched station, with 5% of the viewership.
TV Station Rankings Summary:
- Citizen TV holds its position at the top, being the most-watched TV station with a significant 35% viewership in the last week. This figure is consistent with the previous year’s data.
- NTV comes in second, capturing 11% of the viewership, closely followed by KTN Home at 8%.
- Other stations such as KTN News, K24, and KBC show varying levels of engagement, with viewership percentages around 7% each.
Radio listenership
When it comes to radio, the usual suspects continue to dominate the airwaves.
Radio Citizen expanded its lead from 2022, by 4 points, commanding 22% of the audience.
Radio Jambo (14%), Radio Maisha (11%), Milele FM (6%) and Radio47 (5%) completed the top 5.
That last one, Radio47, owned by the same company behind TV47, did not even make the list in 2022. In fact, the station was not even launched.
The newcomer has entered the scene with a bang, overtaking big names like Classic 105, Kiss 100, Kameme and Inooro FM.
Commenting on its rise, Media Council of Kenya CEO David Omwoyo said, “Radio47, a new entrant is up at 5 percent, there is something they are doing right.”
Radio Listenership Summary:
- Daily Engagement: A significant number of respondents listen to the radio daily, with 25% listening for more than 6 hours.
- Peak Listening Times: Most radio listening occurs during the morning hours (6 AM to 9 AM), capturing 33% of listeners.
- Popular Radio Stations:
- Radio Citizen is the most listened to station, with 22% of the audience.
- Radio Jambo and Radio Maisha follow, with 14% and 11% of listenership, respectively. New entrant Radio47 is showing most momentum.
- Accessing Radio Content:
- FM Radio Receivers are predominantly used by 42% of respondents to access radio content.
- Digital platforms and set-top boxes also play a role but to a lesser extent.
- Preferences by Region:
- Rural areas show a higher preference for radio compared to urban settings, where TV and digital media are more dominant.
- Content Type:
- News (general, sports, politics, business) and entertainment (music, movies, comedy) are the most consumed types of radio programs.
Newspaper Readership
Newspaper readership continues to decline, with 74% of respondents saying they DON’T read newspapers, up from 71% of respondents the previous year.
Among the readers, Daily Nation continues being the most popular, coming in at 35%. That is however a significant drop from the 42% recorded in 2022.
The Standard (21%), and Taifa Leo (14%), complete the top 3.
In a major warning sign to newspaper publishers, the number of Kenyans who actually purchase a physical copy dropped from 56% to 37%.
Meanwhile, those who subscribe (sometimes free) to their online versions, grew marginally from 16% to 21%. The number of those who read at social places or at a vendor’s point meanwhile grew.
Newspaper Readership Summary:
- Decline in Readership: There has been a slight decline in newspaper readership, with 26% of respondents indicating they read newspapers weekly in 2023, down from 29% in 2022.
- Most Popular Newspapers:
- Daily Nation leads in popularity, with 35% of newspaper readers choosing it as their primary read.
- The Standard and Taifa Leo follow, with 21% and 14% readership, respectively.
- Access Modes:
- A majority of readers (37%) still prefer purchasing hard copies of newspapers.
- Online subscriptions and reading at social places like cafes are other significant methods of accessing newspapers.
- Demographic Trends:
- More males (33%) than females (18%) read newspapers.
- Readership is higher in urban and peri-urban areas compared to rural areas.
- Primary Reasons for Reading Newspapers:
- News coverage is the main driver for purchasing newspapers, followed by interest in politics and sports.
- Classifieds and advertisements also play a role in attracting some readers.
Interviews were conducted through Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews (CATI) & Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI).
This survey had a sample size of 3580.
