A new audience raking done by Geopoll shows the radio viewership battle is fairly stable with the most popular stations retaining their positions.
Radio Citizen, owned by Royal Media Services, maintains the top spot consistently throughout the day nationally with its highest point being between 6-8AM.
Radio Maisha, owned by Standard Media Group, takes the second position in ratings with its highest point being between 6-8AM, while Radio Africa Group’s Jambo station is third in the ratings.
On average, Citizen Radio takes the top spot with a share of 16.2 per cent, Radio Maisha with 12.8 per cent followed by Jambo which maintains its third position in share with an average of 9.2 per cent. This compares fairly well with early 2016 ratings by Ipsos, which put Citizen Radio at 15.4 per cent and Radio Maisha at 11.2 per cent as Radio Jambo, run by Radio Africa, ranked at 8.4 per cent.
This means the top three radio stations have actually grown in popularity, although marginally, but which is a fete in a highly competitive radio market. The change in fortunes could be attributed to the increased use of comedians during the morning shows.
Radio Citizen has Mwala and Wilbroda, who act in local drama series Inspekta Mwala and Papa Shirandula. Radio Jambo, though has its two presenters who have held strong to their audience with discussions of topical issues.
ALSO SEE: Citizen TV loses grip of television viewership
“The high share of 34.0% for other stations not within the top 10 shows the large number of radio stations in Kenya, which broadcast across the country at a regional level,” says Geopoll.
The fourth most popular radio station is Milele FM, owned by Mediamax Ltd, the parent company of the People Newspaper and K24 TV. It is then followed by sister stations Classic 105 and Kiss 10, respectively.
There has been an explosion in radio station in the country over the past five years, with over 100 stations in the country. Radio is the most competitive segment in the media industry, with various stations categorized as English, Swahili, vernacular and further splits into religious, sports, sheng and so on.
The market has been so tough that Nation Media Group was last year forced to close its three radio stations – QFM, Nation FM in Nairobi and KFM in Rwanda due to low returns.
NEXT READ
