Over the last couple of years I have watched in amazement my former employer make some questionable investment decisions that make me wonder whether this media giant is going to survive the Chochio media onslaught:
Numero uno: Investing in multi birrion dorra printing press. Why invest in such when your newspaper circulation is on a downward spiral? ( @Okiya confirm priss) Most Media houses in developed countries have anticipated the ‘extinction’ of the good old newspaper in the next few years to be replaced by digital online and real time interactive content. (@Ka-Buda may confirm) Why not enhance the digital content? This brings me to;
2: Suppression of the digital content AKA Mandazi moto. Nowadays the Nation Safcom app is either disabled or is downloading outdated editions. I don’t know who advised them to do this but I am sure that one of the results of this suppression HAS NOT increased newspaper sales. Digital content is the future and the sooner they realize, the better.
Shutting down of the radio stations: I think instead of shutting down, they should have gone mashinani and introduced the community based radio stations to compete with Royal media ones.
Partnering with Njata, STN and Lolwe TVs and ‘shutting down’ QTV. I mean, what the fuk is this? Now they will be paying these stations so that they can broadcast their news content when NTV is only a remote button away. Why not just establish your own regional TVs. Politics is local as they say, so is Media Revenue. You got to go where the listeners and the viewers are…
It’s commendable for them to retain a National Broadcaster Tag, but the last time i checked, most Kenya viewers are watching ‘local Tv’… Sindio @Meria Mata?
I pity the current brand of marketers who are under extreme pressure to increase advertising revenue, led by my friend Ngugi…No wonder nimeona ameisha sana of late.
i do not agree. what are the stats on access to mandazi moto content country wide.
wakimaliza the physical gazzeti :
chipo mwitu na nyama zitafungwa na nini?
watu wa shagz who cannot afford tissue paper wataenda choo na nini?
paint job pale grogon itafanywe aje?
Another of my former employer mistake in my opinion was getting into the courier business which is not a core business for them. They have tried all sorts of re engineering the department to no avail.
there is so much wrong with NMG editorial and business decisions…one of them is thinking you are attracting new readers in a certain region by plastering a certain old man’s picture on the front page everyday; even when his wheelbarrow has been forgotten in the shamba…
Can’t work because of three things:
[ul]
[li]The procurement act requires all tenders to be advertised through print media with a national circulation. A significant part of ads are government procurement announcement[/li][li]Advertising of govt jobs n shortlisted names as above[/li][li]Parastatals are the biggest drivers of govt adverts in newspapers. These have an advisory board and they are therefore not affected by populist Treasury n executive orders.[/li][/ul]
The newspaper is their major source of revenue,so it’s only logical to improve on that. QTV was not making profits.The most watched program in NTV is Churchill only. The former Md used to listen more to journalists and that’s why they are in this mess.The current md is different and he infact told off those journalists (in his own words- nobody is indispensable at NMG). At the end of the day Nation is a business and shareholders expect profits not stories of giants.
Many of The Aga Khan’s business interests in Kenya aren’t doing so well, not even Serena. Perhaps only DTB & Jubilee are ok. In most of the rest, management issues are to blame.
NMG comes across as too elitist to survive in the modern rapidly changing media environment.