Ratio Magazine :: The Inside Track to East Africa’s Economies - Kenya: Kiss TV and Classic TV: Specialisation and Local Content

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Kenya: Kiss TV and Classic TV: Specialisation and Local Content

Monday, 31 August 2009

With the launch of two new free-to-air stations, Radio Africa Group banks on the content specialisation that will be driven by the transition to digital broadcasting. Andrea Bohnstedt speaks to group CEO Patrick Quarcoo

When Patrick Quarcoo, CEO of Radio Africa Group, first entered the Kenyan media market with radio station Kiss FM in 2000, he was told that Kenya did not need another radio station. Six months later, Kiss FM was number one, and the ‘unnecessary’ radio station was just the beginning of a media group that has moved beyond FM radio in the past two years: Radio Africa Group now has six radio stations, launched a daily newspaper in 2007, and in early August 2009 began broadcasting two new free to air TV stations, Kiss TV and Classic TV, in a departure from the traditional all-purpose model:

Classic TV is designed as a mass-market movie channel. Currently broadcasting in Nairobi only, it targets a broad African market and African movie lovers. One of the lessons from DSTV channels, Quarcoo argues, is that African movies are extremely successful: Local content creates a strong emotional connection to the viewers. Radio Africa’s own research showed that the appeal of Classic TV is particularly strong amongst women of all classes, and the low to mid-income range. The station is aimed at women, men between 30 and 40, and families.

Kiss TV, a music channel, focuses on the more niche market of an audience aged 15 to 34. In the last two years, Quarcoo points out, local TV stations have been using the 5-7pm slot for music programmes, and audience numbers have grown consistently amongst the segment of 15 to 34 year olds, now reaching 30% to 40% of the market. However, the growing number of Kenyan video productions have had little opportunity to showcase them: In the one hour shows, Kenyan features compete with international music. Kiss TV – named after Quarcoo’s hugely successful first radio station – aims to become Kenya’s MTV, offering its viewers a combination of the latest international as well as Kenyan and East African videos.

Good Reception
The two new entrants have deliberately abandoned the traditional format of providing content for the entire family and a broad-based demographic - none of the stations will air conventional news to avoid diluting the product. Additional content around music and movies will be news and interviews on fashion and celebrities on Kiss TV, whereas Classic TV will include interviews with script writers, producers and other industry players.

First results from a dipstick survey were extremely encouraging, notes Quarcoo, providing a lot of anecdotal evidence that viewers are switching to the new channels. In the first week of the station’s broadcasts, the operators received 21,000 sms with comments to their sms platform. The true test, however, will come in the coming days and weeks: The company will now begin to market advertising, and expects good uptake both from major players and smaller advertisers. The specialisation of both stations creates a focused audience for advertisers: Classic TV targets women and families, whereas Kiss TV is a suitable platform for products and services for young people, and those with a young lifestyle.

Going Local
It was only in the past two years that local movies and local productions have emerged as a hugely successful TV format. In Kenya’s broadcast market, Citizen TV in particular have done extremely well on the back of local programming, both with regard to audiences and revenues. The format of both Kiss and Classic TV will capitalise on this trend, and will explore additional avenues for local content, e.g. sub-titling local-language productions for wider consumption.

This, Quarcoo expects, will generate significant demand, and so give a new impetus to the local broadcast content industry: Classic have already purchased a number of Kenyan movies and, once the station grows, intend to commission their own material. To date, Kenya’s budding movie production is a far cry from Nigeria’s powerful ‘Nollywood’ movie industry. But for Quarcoo, this is a question of developing the market: Once viewers’ interest picks up, advertisers will come on board and Classic intends to reinvest in the local market.

Perspectives: Competition and Consolidation
With two free-to-air stations, Radio Africa Group has established itself in Kenya’s competitive media market as a full media group, joining Royal Media, the Nation Media Group and the Standard Group. A fifth player is consolidating around K24 and Kameme. The news market is dominated by KTN and Nation, and the national broadcaster KBC, currently still ranked fourth, is expected to further lose influence – in Nairobi, K24 is eating at its market share, whereas competitors Nation, KTN and Citizen equally draw audiences with national news.

The combination of specialisation and local content brings a new approach to Kenya’s free-to-air broadcast market. While Citizen TV had, in the recent past, dominated the market for local content, Quarcoo does not expect Classic TV to compete with Citizen in the same segment, as the new station targets a slightly wealthier audience. Being a movie-only channel, Classic TV expects to draw some viewers from pay-TV channel DSTV.

Radio Africa’s TV offer effectively anticipates the rapid increase in demand for content and subsequent specialisation that will be driven by the transition from analogue to digital transmission. One of the most sought-after content categories will, in fact, be local content – this was the overwhelming message at AITEC’s first Africa Broadcast Conference in September 2008. In addition, the first of several fibreoptic cable ventures has come on stream in Kenya, which will create an explosive demand for digital content, particularly in the mobile sector, where it is expected to open up an entirely new target audience.

‘Local channels really need to decide’, argues Quarcoo: The transition to digital broadcasting will create a profusion of channels, and Pay TV already offers all the latest sitcoms. This scenario makes it a sound decision to bank on local content and specialisation.

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