Radio, print suffer colossal audience drop
Lewanika Timothy | Monday August 25, 2025 09:34
The drop in audience numbers has been experienced by radio, print, and television media outlets, with positive growth only registered in mobile phone numbers.
According to the latest Household ICT Survey by Statistics Botswana, print media has suffered the most. Readership of newspapers, magazines, and journals fell by more than 40% between 2014 and 2024 — from over one million readers to just above 600,000. In percentage terms, the share of individuals engaging with print plummeted from 76.4% in 2014 to 35.5% in 2024, cutting across both male and female audiences.
“The 2024 ICT Survey revealed that the percentage of individuals who read print media significantly decreased from 76.4 percent in 2014 to 35.5 percent in 2024. Of these individuals, both males and females saw a decline in print media usage,” researchers noted.
Digitalisation of media has created problems for the old traditional media outlets. Online news sources and digital media have become an integral aspect of contemporary life. The existence of digital media, namely social media, has presented a challenge to traditional print newspapers.
When looking for free news and information, users are turning to the internet. Compared to printed media, alternative sources of news and information are far faster.
“The overall decline in print media readership reflects the growing preference for digital content. While news and current affairs remain top priorities, print magazines and newspapers are struggling to retain readership,' researchers noted. Radio has also taken a hit. Audiences declined from just over one million listeners in 2014 to about 900,000 in 2024. Household ownership of radios fell from 59.4% in 2014 to 51.8% in 2024.
“The 2024 ICT Household Survey shows that the proportion of households with access to a radio and television has gone down. Households with access to a radio stood at 51.8 percent of total households in 2024, compared with 59.4 percent in 2014,' researchers noted.
Segments such as News and Current Affairs remain the most popular reason for tuning in, climbing slightly from 90.6% to 91.2% — other segments have seen steep declines. Researchers also noted some dips into different radio segments, such as music and arts.
“News and Current Affairs are still the top reasons for listening to the radio, rising from 90.6 percent in 2014 to 91.2 percent in 2024. Music & Artists Discovery witnessed a sharp decline from 82.0 percent to 41.3 percent, suggesting that younger audiences are shifting to other platforms,” researchers noted.
The dip in the number of people turning to the radio for music reflects the growth of streaming platforms that have become conventional. Streaming applications like Spotify and Apple Music have in the past years gained ground and established themselves as the go-to applications for music.
On other segments, researchers showed that “sports listening decreased from 66.8 percent to 41.7 percent. Government Programs & Policies experienced a slight decline from 50.0 percent to 49.3 percent. Despite this drop, government programs remain a significant reason for listening to the radio.”
Concerning households with access to a television, they made up 54.8 percent of the total, down by 5.5 percentage points from 60.3 percent recorded in 2014
By contrast, the internet has become deeply woven into everyday life. Daily usage rose from 55.3% of users in 2014 to 70.4% in 2024. Weekly users nearly doubled to 262,848. Home use remained dominant, with over 91% of internet users accessing it from their residences. Mobile phones have emerged as the primary gateway: individuals using cellular networks to connect jumped from 381,674 (77.3%) in 2014 to 906,102 (87.2%) in 2024, surpassing portable computers and other devices.