SECTOR 2 2.13 The advertising market is large enough to support a diversity of media outlets. According to IPSOS1 , in 2014, the size of Uganda’s advertising market stood at around 613 billion Ugandan Shillings (USD 212 million). Of this, approximately 56% went to radio advertising (note that Uganda has over 270 radio stations), 20% to television advertising, and 16% to print media. The allocation to social media advertising has been increasing year after year. Panellists agreed that, “The size of the Ugandan market can’t sustain all the media”, noting that, “the economic slump is an issue, and money available for advertising funds is insufficient”. As an import economy, the bulk of advertising in Uganda comes from telecommunications companies and from the banks. “We don’t have a big enough manufacturing sector to significantly cover these costs.” Moreover, in the past few years, advertisers have steadily shown a preference for outdoor advertising rather than print or broadcast. Advertising from government has also dried up, so much so that it recently directed its Public Relations practitioners to use their websites to advertise. This has been a major cause of concern for media houses (particularly print), who rely on advertisements for their survival. Alongside the small advertising market, matters are made worse by corrupt officials responsible for placing the ads. These officials seek kickbacks from the media outlets who run their ads threatening not to advertise with them if such kickbacks are not provided. 1 48 Nakaweesi, D. 2015. Uganda: The Struggle to Control Markets. Daily Monitor, 24 February 2014. Retrieved from https://asokoinsight.com/news/struggle-control-markets-uganda/ AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER UGANDA 2016