Why KBC Became Viral Topic Ahead of Ruto's Swearing-In

National broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) is now in the limelight across the country as it prepares to cover the swearing-in ceremony of the president-elect, William Ruto on Tuesday, September 13.

What suddenly set Kenya's internet on fire is that KBC will be the only local TV station that will have rights to cover the event alongside a private company (Live Eye), a move that was confirmed by highly-placed sources who revealed to Viral Tea.

Live Eye is a company contracted by Ruto's communications team, as stated by Digital strategist Dennis Itumbi and would set up a channel that will broadcast the historic national event across the continent.

The station will stream the event dubbed “Kenya Presidential Inauguration” from Monday, September 12 in readiness for the event the following day. The channel will continue to air for three days before it is shut down on Thursday, September 14.

Following the move, the likes of Citizen TV, NTV, KTN and TV47 among others will rely on a live feed, despite sending crews to the Kasarani Stadium where they will interview those on the streets attending the event as well as get their reactions in order to relay to their later prime time bulletins.

What confused the country was rumours that the stations would pay for the feed for re-broadcasting from the contracted company, but Viral Tea has learnt that the feed would be available to broadcasters for free.

With the announcement, KBC's social media team was kept busy and churned out creative posts after creative posts, showcasing the content, men and women in the media house who light up audiences on TV and those behind the scenes that bring the news-like atmosphere to life.

Of key notice was a quote the national broadcaster shared which read “He who digs a grave for his enemy might as well be digging one for himself,” which was not taken lying down by the rest of the media houses which responded with the following:

KTN News: Fortune favours the brave  

TV47: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone - Psalm 118

NTV: Nothing good ever comes of violence - Martin Luther

...all on a Sunday. Viral Tea was not to be left out of the mix and its quote on Monday read "It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward," despite being a digital media house.

Ruto's Plan To Improve KBC

Ruto has previously hinted at overhauling the media house once his government takes power after Tuesday, stating that with it running as a commercial entity, the station based at Harry Thuku road, Nairobi would regain its glory as the great media house it was once known for across the country for its excellence in journalism.

He said that KBC lost its credibility after it became a mouthpiece of whoever was in government.

"It must operate differently, otherwise nobody  is going to advertise, we must run KBC as a commercial entity, it must make money, it must run itself we cannot continue to fund KBC from public coffers,” Ruto stated on KTN News during a town hall meeting on July 7 at Serena Hotel, Nairobi

“The problem of KBC in the past is that it became a mouthpiece of whoever was in government and it lost credibility, it must keep to being objective, it must keep being balanced, it cannot be a place where they report the President from morning to evening."

Our source believes that the future of KBC amidst that promise looks bright, with the station having the potential of creating more job opportunities and matching up to the national broadcasters in South Africa, Europe and some America.

"Imagine a KBC that does more productions and pays competitive salaries - that will be great for the media space  - it will create more jobs etc.

"An example in South Africa SABC handles all national events and shares links to everyone same thing with BBC in the UK. That is the role of the national broadcaster," the source told Viral Tea.

KBC in July 2021 underwent a top-to-bottom rebranding and poached exciting talents who have previously been news anchors at rival TV stations. It also brought back veteran anchors who had steered KBC into the powerhouse it was in the past.

News Anchors Unveiled By KBC TV During a Relaunch Done on July 21, 2021. /KBC

Already, 20 presidents will be expected to attend the swearing-in at the Kasarani Stadium. US president, Joe Biden had dispatched a delegation of five to attend the event, including US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman.

The delegation will be led by Honorable Katherine Tai, principal trade advisor, negotiator, and spokesperson on U.S. trade policy. Other members of the team are Honorable Colin Allred, Honorable Mary Catherine Phee and Dr Monde Muyangwa.