Radio Queen Caroline Mutoko Bows Out at Radio Africa

Veteran radio presenter and administrator Caroline Mutoko is set to exit Radio Africa Group (RAG) after more than two decades at the company.

Sources told Business Today that Mutoko was leaving by mutual agreement, ahead of planned mass layoffs at Radio Africa Group slated for September 2023.

Mutoko, who is also an influencer and content creator, shot to fame as the long-time host of popular shows on Radio Africa-owned Kiss FM including the morning show alongside comedian Walter ‘Nyambane’ Mong’are.

Most recently, she has been working as Group Marketing Manager and Kiss 100 program controller at the company.

Like other major legacy media houses in the country, Radio Africa Group has been struggling to keep up with fast-shifting media consumption and advertising trends.

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Radio Africa operates brands including The Star – Kenya’s third most circulated newspaper – as well as several broadcast properties including Kiss FM, Radio Jambo and Classic 105.

The company is looking to lay of staff to cut costs and enable it to stay competitive.

At the end of 2022, the Group’s Head of Content Paul Ilado issued a memo seen by Business Today, in which staff members were informed of a shift to an ‘audience-first’ approach. Radio Africa disclosed plans to allocate 60% of its staff to digital content, with print to remain with a smaller team representing 30%.

Ilado admitted that the digital-first approach they adopted in 2017 had failed to bring the desired results, revealing disappointing revenues and slowed advertising.

“Five years ago we switched to a digital-first strategy. This strategy was for us to feed our radio stations and websites first. We have tried but unfortunately it has not given us the desired results. We need to do something radical that will see us generate revenue to pay our bills now that advertising is diminishing daily,” Ilado noted.

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