Television advertising is still king in Kenya despite the increasing adoption of digital channels, latest data from the communications Authority shows.
The media landscape in Kenya has become increasingly competitive with the emergence of numerous online news platforms and digital channels.
This has heightened competition for audience attention, even as government cuts on advertising continue to fragment advertising revenue across various platforms, impacting traditional media outlets.
According to the Communications Authority, the overall media industry ad expenditure for the three months to September 2023 was Sh16 billion, with the highest allocation going to TV advertising.
However, compared to the same period last year, the quarterly ad spend has reduced by 19 per cent from Sh19.75 billion.
“The share of advertising spends on TV remained constant through the three months. The total advertising spend was five billion in July, Sh5.3 billion in August and Sh5.7 billion in September 2023,” CA said in the Audience Measurement and Industry Trends report, released on Friday.
Overall, media spending has decreased due to government budget cuts, and brands are currently prioritising market retention, by implementing targeted exposure strategies with minimal spending.
Additionally, brands with a wider product portfolio opt for a range of product campaigns and intermittent exposure.
The expenditure on a combination of TV, radio and print declined by 15 percent in July and increased by five per cent and eight per cent, respectively, in August and September 2023.
“Year to date advertising trends overall spending experienced a 14 per cent decline compared to the same period last year due to low consumer purchasing power, anti-government protests and skyrocketing commodity prices,” added CA in the report.
Further analysis shows that despite an increase in TV subscriptions, the predominant allocation of advertising spending is directed towards free-to air TV, highlighting its central role in the advertising landscape.
Communications Authority says this emphasis on free-to-air TV underscores its effectiveness in reaching a wide and diverse audience.
In the period under review, digital content, the Africa climate summit, CSR activities, fintech, and real estate media activities accounted for a significant portion of TV media buying.
The rapid digitisation of media consumption in Kenya has had a significant impact on radio listenership, which has dropped from 92 per cent of the population in 2014, to 77 per cent. This in turn impacted revenues.
The financial services and communications had among the highest advertising spend on radio over the same period.
Newspaper readership has declined to seven per cent of the population from 21 per cent in 2014, the report indicates.
Print spends by sector shows that the highest spends distribution is on corporate and multi-brand and media. Financial services are at a distant third place.
A report titled ‘The Entertainment and Media (E&M)’ industry report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) paints a grim outlook for traditional media in the period to 2027.
PwC report shows digital advertising segment will account for 79.7 per cent of the industry’s total revenue by 2026 in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
“The pandemic accelerated the uptake of e-commerce, advertising spends followed by and by 2026, internet advertising will become the second largest segment in Africa’s top economies,” reads the report.
In Kenya, the rapid gain in internet advertising will mean that, by 2026, this segment will be just $1.2 million (Sh175.2 million), behind the traditional TV and home video, paving way for internet advertising to take over the sector.
