2019 was an eventful year. There was no shortage of newsworthy stories as every other Kenyan went about their business.
During the course of the year,a corporate titan, Bob Collymore breathed his last after years of making the most profitable company in the region top dollar year on year.
It was also the year when Central Bank Governor intimated that Kenyan CEOs are overated and most of them should be sent packing, it is also the year when it became evident that media houses face an increasingly bleak future as most publishers retrenched huge numbers of employees lamenting a tough operating business environment.
Stories of the year are a reflection of the society, they show what caught the attention of Kenyans and go a long way in showing what the citizens are thinking about. In short they are a barometer of the citizenry’s psychographics.
Today, we retrieve a curation of the most popular stories on the site. A mish-mash of scandals, self help pieces and in-depth articles that you can only find at Business Today.
1 Maina Kageni, King’angi on The Spot as Radio Presenter Faces The Axe
With the digital media disruption upsetting the advertising eco-system, Radio Africa, the media company that owns Classic 105 and Kiss Fm is experiencing very tough economic times and is rumoured to be mulling letting one of the breakfast heavyweights go.
Maina and King’ang’i in the morning is one of the top three radio breakfast shows in the country while Maina Kageni and King’ang’i (Daniel Ndambuki) have enderared themselves to the female audience over the years with their audience specific content.
Last week, the company gave a third of its staff the axe leaving the popular duo sweating over their futures at Lion Place.
Only time will tell if they will be given the boot or not as other Kenyans prepare themselves to usher in a new year.
2 Love on Air? TV Presenters Revel in Prime Time Chemistry
This year revealed itself as one where media houses were keen to make wholesale changes in a bid to survive in a cutthroat industry.
Business Today in February published an article detailing how TV stations have become fond of pairing news anchors based on aesthetics.
This publication also coined the term the Kenyan Media Transfer Window as journalists and media houses jumped from one media house to the other in search of greener pastures.
The article was a huge hit with readers which shows Kenyans take a huge interest with developments in the Kenyan media industry.
3 Going Gets Tough For Anne Kiguta and Betty Kyallo
Not even the most popular are immune from the unusual message from the HR.
Just as it is the case with every other news outlet, K24 is struggling to sustain its headline presenters after acquiring their services at a premium and to much funfare.
As it turns out, the Kenyatta-Ruto owned media house is unable to market Kyallo’s hugely popular weekend news segment Upclose. Viewers appear to prefer watching it online making the Friday prime-slot lose potential revenue.
On the other hand, media managers at K24 are said to be ruing enlisting the services of Kiguta who has failed to command the same kind of popularity she did while at Citizen TV and KTN.
Business Today exclusively reported that the managers fear that Kiguta is out of her depth while her big name has not translated into viewership.
4 Milele FM Presenters Who Fought Live on Air Suspended
It later turned out as an unorthodox method to popularise the station but Milele FM presenters Kaka Zema and Doreen Nassi, popularly known as Dee, who present the DeenaZemaonDrive show between 4pm and 8pm became the talk of the town after they were caught live fighting on air.
The two were suspended ostensibly to allow the HR department handle the issue after it became an embarrassment to the media stable.
5 Five Simple Tricks Gordon Ogada Used To Win The Sh230 Million Sportpesa Jackpot
Just about everyone wanted to know what buttons the country’s second Sportpesa Mega Jackpot winner pressed to come up with the winning combination.
Millions of Kenyans are struggling, especially the youth and with nowhere else to mint out a living, betting sites become the most next logical option.
Perhaps positively jealous of Ogada’s achievement, Kenyans wanted every bit of the education that would make them as rich as the overnight millionaire.
6 Why A Students Rarely Become Rich and Successful in Life
Year after year, Kenya churns out graduates, releases form four students to the next education level as primary school pupils follow the pattern.
National examination results are among the most publicized news items. Students who do well get the recognition they deserve.
But where do they go from there, do they match their academic success in real life or do the average and poor academicians outwit them on the ground.
This article explored this curious question and received alot of traction as a result.
7 Betty Kyalo’s Fingers Crossed as Purge Begins at K24
Featuring for the second time in this list, Kenyans appear to be very much interested in what goes on in the news siren’s life.
While, she survived the purge that claimed the jobs of the more than 150 journalists that were shown the door at Mediamax recently, she is not out of the woods yet as revenue is not forthcoming.
2020 is almost here, lets see if she has the proverbial nine lives.
8 Promising Journalism Careers, Promising Careers Ruined by Mediamax Firing
Despite rebranding severally, K24 has never been able to level up with its competitors and has more than once poached the best talent in the market in an effort to bridge that gap.
But these decisions have not always gone as anticipated with the big names unable to bring the swagger to K24, the result, prominent journalists lost their jobs.
Michael Njenga, Tom Mboya and Belinda Obura are some of the journalists who have been poached on lucrative terms only to be deemed surplus to requirements not long after.
9 Unsung Hero: CEO Helping Many Overcome Masturbation Addiction
A story that featured Ambigen Limited Founder and CEO Sam Vidambu’s initial struggles with masturbation and how he overcame the affliction and turned to be a person who helps other masturbation addicts was not shy of numbers.
“Growing up I saw my father was addicted to alcohol and drugs,” he recalls. “He tried to hide it from his family but we came to know about it and I knew I was not going to let myself end up like him. I never wanted to be addicted to drugs but I actually came to be addicted to something else.” said Vidambu in an interview with Business Today.
His story “broke” the site. The engagement was massive. Not many chief executives are comfortable revealing intimate details about themselves.
10 Step by step guide to filing income tax returns on KRA iTax I portal
“Kulipa Ushuru Ni Kujitegemea”
It seems Kenyans are intrigued by this statement or perhaps they are wary of the taxman’s fines if they fail to remit their dues.
Or better still, they want to do their part go avoid a push and pull scenario with the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA).
