Majority of sectors known for spending on advertising scaled down their budgets on local print media platforms, starving them of much-needed revenue.
- •Out of the 17 known sectors with huge budgets to run campaign on both radio, TV and broadcast, only five increased their print budget while the remaining 12 cut down their expenses.
- •The Transport, Tourism, Retail, Pharmaceuticals and Clothing sectors increased their advertising budgets to KSh 48 million, KSh 48million, KSh 25million, KSh 8million and KSh 5million respectively in Q22024/25.
- •Generally, the advertising expenditure grew by 11 per cent, increasing from KSh 18 billion to KSh 20 billion between Q12024/25 and Q2 2024/25, The Audience Measurement and Industry Trends Report capturing October-December 2024.
“While electronic media showed positive trends, media purchasing witnessed an -2% drop by the end of the October 2025 then a positive growth trend to 6 % in November and drop of -2% at the end of December 2025,” says Communications Authority in the study.
Corporate & multi-brand and media sectors are the heaviest spenders in print platforms at KSh 604 million and KSh 399 million in the quarter under review, which is a decrease from KSh 686 million and KSh 430 million they spent in the first quarter 2024/25.
“The predominant allocation of advertising spending is directed towards free to air TV, highlighting its central role in the advertising landscape. This emphasis on free to air TV underscores its effectiveness in reaching a wide and diverse audience,” CA added.
According to the report, Media space competition, thematic campaigns, and seasonality were crucial drivers of media buying within the TV medium. “During this period, messaging prominently featured aspects such as offers, effectiveness, accessibility, quality, affordability, and distinctiveness.”
Media Demographics
The Q2 findings indicate a gender gap in media consumption, with male respondents consuming more TV, radio, online newspapers, and magazines than female respondents.
The age groups that showed the most engagement in radio were those aged 45+ years 83% and TV activities were those aged 18-24 years 78%.
The regions with the largest radio listenership include the Lower Eastern (87%), Western (83%), South Nyanza (82%) and Lake (81%). While internet usage is most prevalent in North Eastern, with 83% of people using it, Central and Nairobi regions show noticeably high television consumption (83% and 82%). There are geographical differences in newspaper reading, with North Eastern regions showing notable increaseof 5%.
There was a slight increase in the consumption of only one media platform, rising from 25.2% in Q1 2024/25 to 27.0% in Q2 2024/25. This suggests that more people may be opting for focused media engagement rather than spreading their atention across multiple platforms.
Meanwhile, the use of two media platforms remained relatively stable, with a marginal shift from 35.2% in Q1 2024/25 to 35.1% in Q2 2024/25, maintaining a steady trend observed in previous quarters.
Conversely, the consumption of multiple media sources has continued to decline, dropping from 39.6% in Q1 2024/25 to 38.0% in Q2 2024/25. The overall trend highlights a gradual movement towards more selective media use, potentially driven by content saturation, time constraints, or a preference for deeper engagement with fewer media platforms.
