Rose Kimotho Lost K24, Kameme FM to Kenyatta Family Over KSh 12m Debt Which Grew to KSh 70m

 

Veteran journalist and marketer Rose Kimotho owned the media house under Regional Reach before its ownership changed hands. According to Business Daily, K24 put Kimotho under financial strain, forcing her to bow out. How did Rose Kimotho lose Kameme and K24? The company's woes reportedly began after the 2007/2008 post-election chaos as it lost millions in advertising revenue. Kimotho disclosed the firm made zero income in six months.  It was revealed that the company was launched with funds sourced from the NCBA Bank, of which the Kenyatta family is the second largest shareholder. However, it made losses and could not repay the KSh 12 million loan on time. "CBA (which merged with NIC) called me for a meeting and said the overdraft was now at KSh 70 million. They said: "Your overdraft is now KSh 70 million. Initially, you had an overdraft of KSh 12 million. You will never get out of this. And of course, with an overdraft, the interest is humongous, and it kept growing," Kimotho revealed, as reported by Bizna Kenya. She recalled being asked by bank officials how she intended to settle the debt. That was how her plans for K24 went south.  It also faced stiff competition from Royal Media Services and KBC, which unveiled Kikuyu stations, Inooro and Coro FM, respectively. Kimotho transferred Regional Reach’s assets to TV Africa Holdings associated with the Kenyatta family in a gazette notice dated August 14, 2009. Which are the top TV stations by audience? The number of subscriptions to broadcasting services increased from 6.205 million to 6.217 million in the fourth quarter of 2022/2023 Licensees under the commercial free-to-air TV increased from 318 to 334, while community free-to-air TV remained nine. A report by Geopoll for September indicated Citizen TV stood tall at the summit as the most-viewed station. NTV, KTN, Maisha Magic and TV 47 followed closely in the report released in September. BY TUKO NEWS