NMG Announces Rationalization as it Focuses on Digital Model

By Jeremiah WAKAYA| @WakayaKE

Nation Center

The Nation Media Group has today announced plans to rationalize its broadcasting division by merging the existing television and radio stations. In a press release dated 30^th June,2016, the media house took note of the changing trends in the manner in which its products have been consumed saying that the analysis suggested that NMG focuses on digital content in order to secure its current business while at the same time positioning itself for the future.

The media group which is owned by His Highness the Agha Khan has been hard hit by dropping share prices at the Nairobi Stock Exchange since the year 2015 when the share price plamented from Kshs 300/-  to about Kshs 200/- by the end of the year. In 2016 alone,the media house lost significantly up until yesterday when it recovered from its 52 week low of Kshs 130/- to close at Kshs 150/-.

NMG performance at the NSE

Today’s statement however steered clear of the plamenting share prices at the NSE perhaps in a bid to reassure investors of a brighter future ahead.According to the statement, NMG will now rationalize its television brands NTV and QTV into a single multi-lingual television under its flagship brand NTV. Similarly , the group will also be scaling down its Kenyan radio stations Nation FM and Q FM as well as the Rwandan K FM.

In the new digital strategy, the statement intimated that the broadcast divisions will keep an online presence by keeping live signals for its consumers. The statement however regrettably noted that there will be reduction of workforce at the Nation Center as a result of redundancies that will be occasioned by the implementation of the digital strategy that has since taken effect.

NMG Press Release

The company however remained tight-lipped on the fate of its print division consisting of  The Daily Nation and The Business Daily, which has maintained an online presence will at the same time churning out its print editions, despite the imminent reduction in popularity of print newspapers.

In December 2013, the group launched the DN e-paper app in collaboration with Safaricom with Business Daily launching its e-version in June 2014. On the other hand, rival local newspapers such as The People Daily and X News have in addition to their online versions opted to offer free news papers opting to rely on advertising alone as a source of income.

Globally, the changing dynamics occasioned by the rise of online news portals saw UK’s Independent newspaper quit its print publication on 20th March,2016, a move that resulted in 75 journalists being declared redundant. Among reasons cited by The Independent was a need to ensure a “sustainable and profitable future” for the company which had been struggling with heavy losses for years.