UG Media Landscape Jan – Aug 2024 (H1 24)
The media advertising landscape in Uganda remained resilient in the first half of 2024, trends indicating an ongoing belief in traditional platforms despite the economic squeeze. Many leading brands had immensely scaled down the advertising budget in the period under review, while new players were making their mark across the country, mostly with respect to betting and gambling.
The media industry also saw significant changes, with shutdown of key outlets like Dembe FM and Urban TV, which affected advertising revenues in the NMG and the Vision Group. On the other hand, Next Media’s strategic move to launch a dedicated sports broadcasting channel attracted increased advertising revenue.
Industry Spend Analysis
TV Dominates Ad Spend Growth as Radio Remains Key for Advertisers
Ad spending in Uganda continues to show recovery, growing steadily after disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Television investments led the areas of growth and accounted for 50% of the total ad spend in the first half of 2024. This underlines the value which advertisers see in TV as the dominant medium.
Radio remains, however, the most significant advertising platform for Uganda in that it's the largest point of contact, given its wide reach in the country.
Telecom and Banking Sectors Emerge as Top Ad Spenders, Finance Sector Grows
The communications sector realized a decline in spend by Airtel Uganda and hence its share of voice in the communications sector. On the other hand, MTN Uganda heavily increased its spend to aggressively push its Mobile Money service offerings. This resulted in the Finance sector being better represented, taking 12% of the total spend in H1 2024. Some banks, including those offering Bancassurance and Digital Banking services, capitalized on this to execute several key campaigns during the period.
Top Brands continue to drive advertisements in Uganda.
Although there are slight changes in this list, the same companies have remained at the top in Uganda's advertising spenders for both H1 2023 and H1 2024. Leading the chart were telecom giants like MTN Uganda, which retained the biggest ad budgets, followed by Airtel Uganda and Coca-Cola Uganda. New entries in this list of key spenders were TotalEnergies and BIDCO Uganda showing the diverse range of industries investing heavily in media.
Media House Ad Revenue Analysis
Next Media Consolidate Position in the Market with NBS Sport TV
In the first half of 2024, Next Media maintained its dominance in the first half of 2024, possible following the launch the NBS Sport TVt. This move attracted major advertisers particularly those categories traditionally in search of associations with sports audiences: energy drinks, telecommunications, and breweries.
On the contrary, Vision Group and NMG felt the heat shortly after the closures of Urban TV and Dembe FM, as this saw them witness huge drops in ad revenues. Other traditional TV stations, such as Bukedde and NTV, still realized upward trajectories in ad revenue, compared to similar periods in 2023.
Radio leads, followed by TV and the Internet, in media access in Uganda.
Radio, at 80%, is the most accessed platform, followed by television at 37%, though the internet is fast catching up, now reaching 21% of the audience. There is a highly fragmented radio market in Uganda, with over 300 radio stations across the country, each targeting small areas. This large reach guarantees that radio remains a crucial medium for advertisers looking to tap into both urban and rural audiences.
Media consumption varies across regions of Uganda.
Media consumption in Uganda is largely influenced by geographical lines. radio penetration is better in northern and eastern Uganda since the rural population depends mainly on the medium for information and entertainment. With a larger urban population, Central leads in TV viewership because of its better infrastructure and access to electricity. Therefore, as the media in Uganda continues to improve and develop, advertisers are increasingly building their marketing strategies so as to focus on the regional differences, given that reaching their targeted audience through media becomes very essential.