A bombshell new report from the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has lifted the lid on a brutal paradox gripping the nation’s media industry: Kenyans are glued to screens like never before, yet the very outlets feeding them content are starving financially.
Unveiled today by MCK CEO David Omwoyo under the stark theme “Navigating the Digital Reality: Monetisation Challenges and Opportunities for Kenyan Media in the Digital Economy“, the study exposes a gaping chasm between skyrocketing online engagement and collapsing revenue streams.
Kenya has fully morphed into a mobile-first powerhouse. A jaw-dropping 91.1% of content consumers now access news and entertainment through smartphones. More alarmingly, over half (51.3%) prioritize social media platforms—Facebook, TikTok, and X—over traditional news sites or apps.
Streaming giants like YouTube, Netflix, and Spotify capture 23.8% of consumption, while dedicated news websites limp along at a mere 13.6%.
This digital tsunami should spell riches. Instead, it’s a revenue apocalypse.
Traditional advertising—once the unbreakable backbone of Kenyan media—has crumbled under relentless technological disruption and shifting consumer habits. Legacy models are “giving in,” the report warns, as global platforms siphon ad dollars away from local houses.
Even as advertising clings to dominance (50% of monetisation efforts), followed by sponsored posts (27.2%) and subscriptions/paywalls (15.8%), the hard numbers scream crisis: 52% of media organisations still derive less than 10% of total revenue from digital channels.
Worse, over half (53.6%) lack any dedicated digital revenue strategy—despite 58% of professionals believing their tools are effective. The sector’s heavy reliance on external Big Tech platforms leaves it dangerously exposed to algorithm whims and foreign gatekeepers.
Yet glimmers of hope emerge from consumer attitudes. Audiences say they’d pay for high-quality content, exclusive access, creator support, and ad-free experiences. Nearly half indicate they’re likely to open their wallets for digital content in the future—if media houses finally get their act together.
The report delivers a clear survival playbook:
– Double down on mobile optimisation with lightning-fast, responsive designs for that 91% smartphone army.
– Pour investment into high-demand niches like entertainment and sharp specialized analysis.
– Embrace flexible payments, where one-time options often trump recurring subscriptions.
Amid the digital storm, radio stands as a resilient anchor. With 249 licensed stations, 74% of Kenyans tune in weekly and 55% rely on it for news—especially in rural and underserved areas where internet remains patchy.
But the message from Omwoyo and the MCK is urgent: Kenyan media faces structural upheaval from audience migration and tech disruption. Without rapid, decisive innovation, the industry risks a slow bleed into irrelevance—threatening not just jobs and profits, but the very foundation of informed public discourse in Africa’s most digitally dynamic nation.
The digital boom promised fortune. For Kenyan media, it’s delivering famine—unless the pivot happens now.
