SECTOR 2

The media landscape, including new
media, is characterised by diversity,
independence and sustainability
2.1 A wide range of sources of information (print,
broadcasting, internet) is accessible and affordable to
citizens.
Analysis:

Ugandans have different sources of information, both in print and in broadcasting,
with radio being the most important one: according to an audience study
undertaken by the Kampala-based Steadman Group, now Synovate, in 2009, 89
per cent of all households own a radio set.
Broadcast media are widely spread. The state broadcaster’s TV signal covers 60%
of the country while radio reaches 80%. The signal, however, is not reliable and
breaks down frequently. In addition there are private FM radio stations in almost
all parts of the country. According to the Uganda Communications Commission’s
A Review of the Post and Telecommunications Market 2008/09, there were 202 FM
stations on air as of June 2009 compared to 166 in June 2008. The majority are
owned by commercial proprietors and are located in the central part of the country
because it is the wealthiest.
According to the Communications Commission there were 40 television stations
licensed in June 2009 compared to 26 in June 2008. Most, like radio, are based
in the central region, and four in other regions. These include: WBS TV, Nile
Broadcasting Services (NBS), Uganda Broadcasting Corporation (UBC), Record
TV, Light TV (mainly Christian), Nation TV (NTV), Top TV, Nile TV, Open
Gate TV, EATV, which beams in from Dar es Salaam and a new station, Bukedde
TV, an affiliate of the daily The New Vision. DStv is a pay-TV provider. Very few
people, however, do actually have access to TV services because the majority cannot
afford a set. (According to the 2006 Uganda Demographic and Household Survey
by the Uganda Bureau of Statistics only 6.2 per cent of Ugandan households own
a TV set.).
There are two major English-language dailies: the state-owned The New Vision
and the privately owned Daily Monitor, with a combined circulation of less than
70,000 copies a day, each copy being read by between five and 10 people (Uganda’s
total population stands at 31 million). There are three other dailies, The Red
Pepper (a tabloid), its sister paper Kamunye, a Luganda-language publication, and

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AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2010

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