Bukedde TV leads in Kampala

By Vision reporter

A new media survey released last week has shown that New Vision newspaper and Bukedde TV are dominating the media space in Uganda.  

The survey showed Vision Group’s print and electronic platforms in commanding positions, with the newspaper possessing wide readership and the TV leading in Kampala and the central region with 87% reach.

Highlighting the trends in the industry, the Uganda All Media Products Survey (UAMPS) was conducted in December 2011 by Synovate, a respected research agency. Basing on a population sample of 5,000, the survey showed that New Vision had a high readership.

Asked which newspapers they had read in the past seven days, 64% of the respondents picked New Vision, an indication of their loyalty and preference.

Since it was founded in 1986, New Vision has set itself as a leading newspaper by ensuring balanced, fair and objective reporting.

Because of this, what started as a primarily newspaper company, has grown into a multimedia house with investments in radio, television and online.

The survey showed that 45% of the readers had read the Kenyan-owned Daily Monitor in the past seven days and 33% had read Red Pepper, both groups lagging behind New Vision.Bukedde, as the largest selling Luganda paper and second biggest daily (31,000 ABC) reaches 44% of the same audience.

The Luganda daily is among the four regional newspapers run by Vision Group. The other three are Orumuri, Etop and Rupiny all weeklies.

The survey showed 61% of the respondents read their own copies of Bukedde and a significant number of them read all or most sections of the newspaper. Weekly newspaper readership was dominated by Sunday Vision at 14%.

This was followed by Vision Group publications Orumuri (11%), Saturday Vision (9%), Etop (9%) and Rupiny (7%).

Discovery Magazine, inserted in Sunday Vision had a significant number of readers. Flair for Her another Vision Group publication was also rated highly. The survey also ranked Blitz, an entertainment pullout in New Vision that runs on Fridays, better than any other entertainment pullout in the market.  

In addition to newspapers, Vision Group runs three TV and five   stations. The TVs are Bukedde TV, TV West and Urban TV.

And the radios are Bukedde FAMA, XFM, Radio West, Radio Rupiny, and Etop FM. Bukedde TV, according to the research, had 87% weekly reach in Kampala. It means nine out of every 10 people watch the channel every week.

Bukedde TV has a loyal audience with 30% described as heavy viewers, spending over 10 hours a week watching it. Some 44% are light viewers and 26% medium viewers, spending up to five hours and 10 hours respectively a week tuned to the station.

Bukedde TV’s Agataliko nfufu, is the most watched television programme. The other two programmes are Kyenkya, KinaUganda and Noluyimba lwo.

Urban TV, which is only two months in operation, already reaches 15% of the audiences in Kampala.

Following Bukedde was TV West,with light viewers at 47%, medium, 23% and heavy 31%. Bukedde FAMA had grown its weekly reach from 35% to 39%, showing a stead leap as the station battles competition from CBS, Capital and Simba. XFM launched six month ago was rated as the fastest growing station.

Commenting on the survey Vision Group’s head of sales Godfrey Mulengi said it proved that Vision Group, through its various media platforms was delivering content that appeals to audiences.

“The double impact of popular content is that it attracts more readers, listeners and viewers who then add value to the advertisers, everybody benefits,” he explained.

“The real winner though is Bukedde TV. The TV which is in its third year of operation is the number one station in Kampala. This is expected to grow even more in the next survey in October 2012, as this research was completed before the TV became a national station via the DSTV / Multichoice platform in December 2011,” he added.

Mulengi also said: ‘‘such research gives advertisers the correct ammunition to make fair and accurate comparisons between different media type and brands.