Vision platforms register tremendous growth

Mar 23, 2015

Vision Group’s key role in Uganda’s media industry is beyond question.

By Innocent Anguyo

Vision Group’s key role in Uganda’s media industry is beyond question. Overall, Vision Group is the largest media conglomerate in Uganda and it continues to consolidate its hold on that dominance, both in terms of reach and market share, while appealing to new audiences.

A larger proportion of the Ugandan populace has been increasingly consuming products of Vision Group’s multimedia platforms and many of the platforms based in the countryside are garnering a larger slice of the national market by the day.

Findings of a media performance study conducted by Ipsos, a reputable global research firm, attests to the tremendous growth registered by Vision Group’s electronic platforms over the last four years.

Ipsos study affirms Vision Group’s platforms as the leading Ugandan entertainment and news brand in both urban and rural areas, reaching a larger audience than all their competitors in television, radio, digital and cross-platform.

Ipsos is a global market research company that specialises in advertising, loyalty, marketing, media and public affairs market research.

Television

The country’s English-only television station, Urban TV, continues to grow its audience.Of all the viewers of Urban TV, nearly half spend over 10 hours watching the hilarious and edifying programmes therein, according to the study.

Seven out of 10 viewers in Kampala watch Bukedde TV, making it the leading vernacular television station in Kampala and the adjacent regions. In point of fact, Bukedde has become the leading TV station in Uganda, by both market share and viewership.

Bukedde emerged as the only Ugandan TV that has registered growth in the last fi ve years. From a viewership of 37% in 2009, Bukedde TV now commands 72% of the market in the region.

As Bukedde TV’s programming endears it to more of the Kampala audience, its competitors have experienced a decline in their market share. According to the study, in terms of performance, NTV comes second, with its viewership in Kampala having dropped from 54% in 2009 to 37% today. NBS’s viewership in Kampala declined from 34.1% in 2012 to 29% today.

UBC from 29.2% in 2009 to 14% today and WBS from 45.5% in 2009 to 18% today. In terms of reach, nine out of the television viewers in Kampala acknowledged having watched Bukedde TV in a seven-day-period. The only all-English TV station in Kampala, Urban, registered a growth in viewership by 6% over the last four years.

TV West, the only station broadcasting entirely in Runyankole, carries on with meticulously serving its audience and six out of every 10 people in that region say they consume its programmes.

Radio

Vision Group’s radio stations are also unrivalled amongst Ugandan news and entertainment players. Notwithstanding the entry of  numerous new players into the radio industry, Vision Group’s radio channels remain very competitive, in terms of listenership.

In Buganda region, Bukedde ranks among the leading radio stations, while X-FM has cemented its marriage to the English audience by offering alluring programming laced with a youthful tinge.

Already a household name in Teso, Etop has widened its scope with seven out of 10 listeners in the region listening to the radio. In the face of the general drop in radio listenership in the Acholi subregion, Radio Rupiny has defi ed the jinx to move from the fi fth spot to the second in just fi ve years as far as market share is concerned

In West Nile, Arua One has finally sealed a position befi tting its name — number one — after doubling its listenership in just two years of joining the Vision Group family. In western Uganda, Radio West’s supremacy in the market remains unsurpassed with seven out of every 10 listeners in the region acknowledging having consumed the stations uniquely-packaged products in a seven-day period.

Website

Website After giving its all-inclusive audience quality news and entertainment, readers of the New Vision newspaper website, www.newvision.co.ug, have described it as their “favourite” in the country. The readers rated the New Vision website as the leading in the country, followed by the Bukedde website www.bukedde.co.ug, the NTV website, Google, Facebook and the Daily Monitor website.

About the study

Ipsos conducted the survey in 113 randomly selected districts from November 2014 to January 2015. A total of 6,600 Ugandans from both rural and urban areas offered their thoughts on media in Uganda through face-to-face and phone interviews.

The respondents were drawn from both male and female Ugandans aged over 18 years.

What this means

Responding to the findings, Vision Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Robert Kabushenga, attributed the terrific growth of the company’s titles to innovations, which are in tandem with the audience’s needs. “As Vision Group, we take a careful look at our audiences and develop products suitable for them.

That is why in television, Bukedde TV is the undisputed number-one channel and Urban has emerged as the leading among the English audience, especially the youth,” Kabushenga observed.

Whether through a one-off package or a long-term communication campaign, Kabushenga said Vision Group would work with its clients to design a solution that caters for their respective unique businesses and set of customers.

Noting that Vision Group is the only growing media house in Uganda, Kabushenga advised clients to utilise the group’s different platforms to make their brands visible.

“Apart from offering huge audiences for our clients and availing the most effective means to reach them, we equally provide a onestop centre for their communication needs. We have audiences in both the traditional and new media,” said Kabushenga.

He noted that the days of drawing crowds blindly through the front door were over, since the Internet had changed the way customers decide where to take their business. Kabushenga also said more innovations would be undertaken, especially in terms of content, to match audience needs.

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