The Communications Authority of Kenya’s move to revoke Standard Media Group’s broadcasting licences is the most public expression yet of a financial crisis that has been tightening across Kenyan media for nearly a decade.
To understand what is happening to Standard Media Group, you need to understand what has been happening to Kenyan journalism as a whole.
The Ruling
The Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal cleared the CA to revoke licences for six Standard Media Group stations after the company failed to pay KES 48.8 million in outstanding fees. The affected stations are Radio Maisha, Spice FM, Vybez FM, Berur FM, KTN Burudani, and KTN News, which had already ceased operations. The debt comprises KES 13.8 million in unpaid licence fees and KES 34.9 million owed to the Universal Service Fund, a levy under the Kenya Information and Communications Act requiring broadcasters to contribute 0.5% of annual turnover toward rural ICT expansion.
SMG did not dispute the amount. Its appeal argued a payment arrangement existed. The Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal rejected that claim, finding the group had passed up multiple opportunities to settle. The tribunal ruled that airwaves are public resources and that “legitimate expectations cannot override statutory duties.”
Standard Group’s Response
In a statement on March 27, 2026, CEO Chacha Mwita confirmed the ruling and announced the company would challenge it at the High Court, a move SMG says would automatically stay the revocation under KICA provisions.
The group acknowledged the outstanding fees but traced them directly to government non-payment. According to SMG, various ministries, state corporations, and county governments owe it over KES 1.2 billion for advertising and media services delivered over several years.
“The Government cannot hold a knife to our throat with one hand while extending an empty promise of payment with the other. The remedy is simple: Pay what you owe The Standard Group, and we will pay what we owe the CA,” the company said.
SMG warned against enforcing the revocation before the High Court process concludes, calling such a move a violation of due process.
“This coordinated assault on our licences sends a chilling message: that the Government will use its regulatory power to silence any media house that refuses to bend the knee,” the statement read.
The Numbers Tell the Story
The licence dispute does not exist in isolation. Both Standard Media Group and Nation Media Group have posted sustained financial losses over the past several years, driven by falling advertising revenue, government payment delays, and shrinking audiences for legacy platforms.
Standard Group PLC — Revenue and Net Loss (KES Billions)
| Year | Revenue (KES bn) | Net Loss (KES bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 3.1 | 0.07 |
| 2022 | ~2.8 | 0.87 |
| 2023 | 2.4 | 1.26 |
| 2024 | 1.8 | 1.1 (loss before tax) |
Standard Media Group’s revenue fell 13% to KES 2.4 billion in 2023, with the company attributing the decline partly to reduced government advertising. By 2024, revenue had dropped a further 23% to KES 1.8 billion, driven by reduced advertising from both corporate clients and government institutions. The group’s loss before tax reached KES 1.1 billion in 2024, up from KES 723 million the previous year, with negative equity rising to KES 2.22 billion. To stabilise its finances, SMG is pursuing a KES 1.5 billion rights issue.
Nation Media Group PLC — Revenue and Net Loss (KES Billions)
| Year | Revenue (KES bn) | Net Loss (KES bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | ~6.5 | Profit |
| 2022 | ~7.3 | Profit |
| 2023 | 7.1 | 0.21 |
| 2024 | 6.2 | 0.25 |
NMG posted a net loss of KES 254.4 million in 2024, its second consecutive annual loss, the first time in over a decade the group has reported back-to-back losses. Turnover fell 12.5% to KES 6.2 billion from KES 7.1 billion in 2023. Total assets declined 8.6% and cash reserves dropped 18% to KES 2.38 billion. No dividend was declared.
The Government Advertising Problem
Behind both sets of numbers sits the same structural problem. The government is the media sector’s largest advertiser and its primary regulator. When it withholds payment, newsrooms bleed. When it consolidates spending, it removes the revenue that keeps stations on air.
“Overall, media spending has decreased due to government budget cuts, and brands are currently prioritizing market retention by implementing targeted exposure strategies with minimal spending, ” stated CA’s Kenya Media Landscape Report December 2023.
The Kenya Media Sector Working Group (KMSWG), a coalition of media organizations, including the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), Kenya Editors’ Guild (KEG), and the Media Council of Kenya (MCK), established in 2017 to promote media freedom, security, professionalism, and synergy in advocacy, flagged this dynamic as far back as 2019, stating that the Government Advertising Agency was starving outlets of revenue.
By May 2024, the KMSWG estimated the government owed media houses KES 19 billion in unpaid advertising. In 2024, a government directive channelled all state advertising exclusively through the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, cutting private media off further.
However, the High Court declared unconstitutional the March 2024 government directive. The court ruled the directive, intended to boost KBC’s revenue, violated constitutional, media freedom, and fair competition standards, labelling it void.
Kenya Editors’ Guild President Zubeidah Kananu said at the 2025 KEG Convention:
“The greatest threat to media freedom today is economic suffocation. Delayed government advertising payments, GAA centralisation, Big Tech dominance, and declining revenue have weakened newsrooms.”
The government said outstanding media debts are under verification at the National Treasury. In March, the State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications requested Sh853.3 million to clear pending bills owed to media houses and service providers.
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What the Industry Has Been Asking For
The KMSWG, convened by the Kenya Editors’ Guild and the Kenya Union of Journalists with support from organisations including Article 19 Eastern Africa, the Media Council of Kenya, and Internews, has put forward a reform agenda over several years of industry consultations.
Its 2021 Maanzoni Declaration called for tax relief, suspension of licence fees during economic downturns, and — most significantly — the creation of a Media Sustainability Fund. The fund proposal is built on a clear argument: Kenyan journalism cannot survive on advertising markets that keep shrinking, a government that delays payment, and technology platforms that extract value from journalism without contributing to its production. A fund, properly capitalised and governed, would cushion media houses and journalists against exactly the shocks currently playing out.
The Working Group has been explicit that the fund’s management must be open and transparent, with media stakeholders embedded in its governance, not as advisors, but as decision-makers. A government-administered fund without independent oversight would simply replicate the dependency the industry is trying to escape. The KMSWG has committed to working with Parliament to establish the fund through legislation.
The proposal sits alongside other unresolved demands: settlement of the KES 19 billion government debt to media houses, a transparent advertising policy, and a review of laws affecting media operations. A December 2024 roundtable with the Cabinet Secretary for Information confirmed these remain active demands. None have yet produced legislation.
What Happens Next
With the CA preparing to gazette the licence revocations, SMG faces an immediate threat to its broadcasting operations. The group has confirmed it will seek High Court intervention. Whether the courts act before Radio Maisha, Spice FM, and KTN Burudani go dark will determine the immediate outcome.
The wider picture is harder to resolve in court. Kenya’s two largest media groups have posted combined losses exceeding KES 1.5 billion in 2024 alone. A sector that once sustained itself on advertising now depends substantially on a government that simultaneously owes it billions and holds the power to revoke its licences.
The KMSWG’s argument that media is an essential public service, not simply a commercial sector to be left to market forces — remains the clearest framework for addressing that contradiction. Without a funded, legislated, and independently governed response, the Standard Media Group crisis will not be the last of its kind.
