Standard Group’s YouTube channels surpass 1 billion views

Standard Group PLC Chief Executive Officer Orlando Lyomu during the official launch of the converged newsroom and revamped KTN News studio on November 29, 2021. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

The Standard Group’s YouTube channels have surpassed 1-billion views in what is a milestone for Kenya’s media industry.

More Kenyans are watching news rendered in short video forms, pointing to a change in the manner in which news is consumed.

Total views on Standard Group’s YouTube channels hit 1.1 billion as the media giant transformed its news gathering and processing into a multi-media converged newsroom.

It boasts TV, print, radio and digital platforms that respond to consumer needs.

“For Standard Group, surpassing the 1 billion viewers mark on YouTube confirms that our digital-first business approach is bearing fruit,” said Caroline Kimutai, Standard Group’s digital editor.

Ms Kimutai noted that as the first fully converged media house in the region, the Standard Group is prioritizing audiences consuming content online. 

Standard Group PLC Chief Executive Officer Orlando Lyomu and PS Broadcasting and Telecommunication Esther Kioimett reveal the new look KTN News Logo on November 29, 2021. [Stafford Ondego, Standard]

The growing popularity of short videos is not surprising as a lot of people are either on the move or in their workplaces when news breaks.

Thus, they are forced to watch news streamed live on their mobile phones.

Standard Group, the region’s oldest media house, recently relaunched KTN News, a TV channel, and unveiled the most modern converged digital-first newsroom in East and Central Africa.

Ms Kimutai added that all of the group’s traditional media brands are now accessible online, which means that audiences in any part of the world can access the radio content on YouTube for channels like SpiceFM.

“In the last two years, we have seen significant growth in the consumption of videos. This influenced our storytelling approach which includes videos packaged in formats that can be easily consumed on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and our mobile App,” she said.

Total views on Standard Group’s YouTube channels hit 1.1 billion as the media giant transformed its news gathering and processing into a multi-media converged newsroom.

KTN’s YouTube channel was created in July 2008. The media house now boasts of 10 YouTube channels.

At the launch of the Group’s converged newsroom, Group CEO Orlando Lyomu said that "opportunities and demographic dividends keep on changing as consumers are not the same."

This has seen the Standard Group switch gears, incorporating videos on most of its news items as a means of capturing new audience.

At the same event, the group's Editor-in-Chief Ochieng Rapuro said: "Our converged newsroom will, in the medium term, not only serve as a centre of journalistic excellence but also Africa's largest experiment in innovation and training in multi-media journalism.”

"Henceforth, when you interact with us on any of our platforms, you will appreciate our faithfulness to the mission of journalism."