Citizen TV maintains the lead as Kenya’s top television station: MCK

Citizen TV has maintained its lead in TV viewership at 35 percent, a new report by the Media Council of Kenya has revealed.

Also Read: MD Wachira Waruru, 8 top journalists from Royal Media Services conferred Presidential Award

In second position was NTV Kenya at 13 percent followed by KTN Home, KTN News and Inooro TV at 11 percent, 9 percent and 7 percent respectively.

K24 was ranked at sixth position followed by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), Switch TV, KTN Burudani, Kass TV and Gikuyu TV.

According to the Status of Media report that was released on Friday, there was a slight rise in TV viewership.

“55% of Kenyans had more time to read and listen to news and content due to COVID-19 restrictions,” MCK Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo said.

He noted that the media played a critical role in disseminating information during the COVID-19 pandemic.

About 2 out of 5 of those surveyed indicate that the News segment is the most watched in their households.

Overall, television viewership currently stands at 74 percent compared to 73 percent last year.

Also Read: Waihiga Mwaura takes over Citizen TV’s News Night show

For radio listenership, Radio Citizen leads the pack at 19 percent followed by Radio Jambo  (14pc); Radio Maisha  (10pc); Inooro FM (5pc); Kameme FM (5pc); Milele FM (5pc); Classic 105 (3pc); Radio Taifa (3pc); Ramogi FM (3pc); Musyi FM (3pc); Kass FM (2pc); Kiss 100 (2pc) and Chamgei FM (2pc).

Ranked at 1 percent are Egesa FM; NRG Radio; KBC English Service; Ghetto Radio; Radio Nam Lolwe; Mulembe FM; Muuga FM; Hot 96; Gukena; Sulwe FM and Capital FM.

News was also the most listened to program at 45 percent even though use of radio dropped significantly.

Radio listenership currently stands at 74 percent down from 84 percent last year.

According to the MCK study, 97 percent of Kenyans trust the media which is 6 percent up from the previous year.

“People trust TV and radio. TV stands at 70 percent and radio 67 percent, The main source of news for Kenyans are Television (47percent) and Radio (36percent),” the report reads.

MCK Chairman Maina Muiruri however noted that though the Constitution of Kenya (2010) guarantees freedom of information, in practice accessing that information from the Government often proves difficult for the media.

He cited the 2020 World Press Freedom Index that ranked Kenya at 103 out of 180 countries, according to Reporters Without Borders (RSF).

“A truly free and independent media can play a critical role in disseminating the information needed by the public to make informed decisions regarding their lives,” he said.

For print media, readership currently stands at a paltry 25 percent which is a slight increase from 2 percent last year.

Daily Nation is the most read newspaper at 47 percent followed by the Standard at 27 percent; Taifa Leo 8percent; The Star 4 percent; The Nairobian 3 percent; People Daily 3 percent and Business Daily 2 percent.

More men (35percent) were also found to read newspapers than women (15percent) while the reverse was true for those who do not read newspapers.

85 percent of female respondents said they do not read newspapers compared to 66 percent of men.

Majority of respondents (51percent) said they they access newspapers by purchasing their own copies while 14 percent said they read the paper at social places such as restaurants and barber shops.

11 percent said they prefer to read newspapers online while 8 percent said they read them at the vendor’s selling point.

Use of social media was also noted to have increased slightly with 39 percent noting that they use it for networking while 34 percent use it accessing breaking news ad entertainment.

WhatsApp and Facebook were found to be the preferred social media platforms for dissemination of information at 41.8percent and 41.5percent respectively.