Allocation of News Content Versus Advertisement Durations in Kenya: the Case of Citizen Television

Abstract

This research was undertaken after reception of numerous complaints from viewers and reporters themselves of the very little time allocated to the seven o'clock news. Some of these complaints sent in via text messages have been attached in the appendices In the messages some of the viewers even threaten to stop watching CTV if the ads will continue to interrupt their viewing Reporters and news editors were complaining that they had to cut their stories short or have start the bulletin much earlier and end it even earlier to create time for commercials. At first the assumption was that the viewership would drop That however is not the case, according statistics from Ipsos Synovate second quarter, 2011; Citizen Nipashe is still the most watched bulletin in the country even though sometimes it has only four hard news stories. Why do viewers still tune in to the news and soaps yet t~ey complain that there are so many advertisements that hinder their viewingv[s it because the reporters are good, the quality of the stories, the anchors, or Citizen TV's technical abilities? The challenge of balancing the commercials and content could be considered a positive one, as the survival of any media house depends on the money it makes from the advertisements. The report found out that indeed the durations given to advertisements during news in prime time on citizen TV is a lot; an average of 5 minutes for the seven o'clock bulletin and 12 minutes for the 9pm bulletin. This duration is bigger than some segments of the bulletin including sports, business, and weather. In the seven o'clock bulletin, analysis of the content reveals that commercials have taken the place of sports and business news as there is too little to none of it on air.