TV Station Closes Down after 6 Years

Look Up TV has announced leaving the Kenyan broadcast media sphere after six years of being in operation.

The station's senior Swahili newscaster, Tende Anyula, announced at the end of his bulletin.

Without disclosing the reason behind the closure, the journalist thanked the station's audience and journalists for making it gain the status of a national media house.

"Look Up TV's journey that started six years ago is now coming to an end. Today is the last day for English and Swahili news programmes. The journey would not have been possible were it not for our team of journalists and audience. If you don't find us, know we have ended our programmes," said Anyula.

He announced that the network's programmes ceased to exist effective on Friday, June 7.

Since its establishment in 2018, the free-to-air terrestrial channel has strived to reach the top tier by attracting incredible talents and programmes.

To sell the station was its political talk show programmes which featured high-level opinion makers in the field.

The Kenyan media has been grappling with revenue suppression as the globe continues to recover from the ravages of COVID-19.

For a time, to keep up with the drastic reality of the change in the convergent multi-media landscape, media houses have been striving to remain afloat by undertaking such measures as downsizing and scrapping programmes believed to be redundant.

As a result, practitioners and other players have been losing their jobs.

On Friday, June 7, the Nation Media Group (NMG) announced it would lay off part of its staff due to financial challenges.

In an internal memo, NMG Chief Executive Officer Stephen Gitagama said the media house is getting reduced earnings from traditional platforms as a result of rapid transformation in the media landscape.

“We at the Nation Media Group have also faced challenges as a result of reduced earnings from traditional platforms occasioned by these unprecedented disruptions. However, we are cognizant of the immense digital content creation and consumption opportunities that exist not only in Kenya but across the continent,” read the memo in part.

Gitagama noted that the organization would lay off staff effective June 14, 2024, as the media house plans to accelerate digital transformation.

“We must evolve into a leaner, and more agile company that will innovate at pace and drive the efficient delivery of services to our customers. This will, unfortunately, necessitate a workforce reduction, effective Friday, June 14 2024,” the NMG CEO stated.