CORPORATE PROFILE
THE STORY OF
QWETU RADIO
By Billy Etale
F
requency Modulation (FM)
radio stations debuted in Kenya
in the early 90s. Today there are
over 100 such stations broadcasting
in an array of dialects and with a
diversified audience. Nevertheless
the terrain they traverse is slippery
and several have tumbled over while
some have been ‘swallowed’ by their
bigger brothers, or just scaled down
on transmission to save on costs and
of course face.
Qwetu Radio is the latest player in
the Kenyan radio market – focusing
on the Swahili speaking mwananchi.
It is an award winning station having
won both Nganya Awards in the
(best morning show) category and
Kenya Radio awards (best male
Swahili presenter and best mid
morning show) category 2016.
Qwetu Radio is a feel-good station
that evokes feelings of nostalgia
through its choice of classical and
rumba music reminiscent of the good
old days with a team motto that
looks at client business as theirs by
extension.
“Starting an FM station is quite
challenging,” observes Victoria
Anampiu, one of the directors of
Qwetu FM. “One of the biggest
challenge like in all other businesses
is capital. You may start with little
money but one issue leads into
another. Like in our case we had to
move from our small office-cum-
studio in Upper Hill as we were out
of the line of sight with Limuru
where broadcasting masts are
situated.
Then came the issue of acquiring
our own transmitters and hiring
staff to run the station besides other
teething problems,” she narrates. The
directors had to eat into revenues
from other sources to stay afloat and
get the station where it is today - one
and a half years down the line. Also
rolling out to remote areas - so as
to compete adequately with other
players - is a costly undertaking for a
startup.
The radio industry is a cutthroat
market. All players are going for
the same spoilt-for–choice clients
for advertising support. This makes
some stations compromise their rates
besides contending with the myriad
demands from the clients key among
them the demonstration of the reach.
08 MAL 19/17 ISSUE