A new report by global research firm Ipsos has ranked Kenya’s most listened-to radio stations, with Royal Media Services’ (RMS) Radio Citizen emerging as the most popular.
The findings, released on Tuesday, revealed that Radio Citizen leads with an audience reach of 10.4% and an audience share of 20%. Audience reach refers to the number of unique listeners tuning into a station, while audience share measures the percentage of total listeners at any given time.
This marks the third consecutive year that Radio Citizen has held the top spot, maintaining its dominance since its rise in popularity began in 2021.
Trailing behind Radio Citizen were Radio Jambo and Radio Maisha, both of which primarily broadcast in Kiswahili. The two stations recorded an audience reach of 2.7%, with Radio Jambo achieving an audience share of 7.5%.
In the fourth, fifth, and sixth positions were Kameme FM (owned by Mediamax), Radio 47, and Ramogi FM (another RMS station). Despite launching just two years ago in 2023, Radio 47 achieved an impressive audience reach of 2.5% and an audience share of 5.8%, positioning it as one of the fastest-growing stations in Kenya.
To mark its rapid growth, Radio 47, owned by Cape Media, recently announced plans to unveil an ultra-modern studio in celebration of its second anniversary.
Rounding out the top 10 were Milele FM, Inooro FM, Musyi FM, and Kass FM. English-language station Classic FM, popular among Nairobi’s urban audience, ranked eleventh with an audience reach of 1.1% and an audience share of 2.0%.
Demographic Insights
The report also shed light on audience demographics, revealing that Kenyans aged 25 to 34 years were the most active radio consumers, making up 33% of the total listenership. Those aged 18 to 24 followed closely, accounting for 26.8%.
Geographically, Central Kenya led in radio consumption, with the Rift Valley, Western Kenya, Nairobi, and the Coast regions following in that order.
Gender analysis showed a slight edge for female listeners, who made up 50.1% of the audience, compared to males at 49.9%.
