Platform native: how Kenya’s Nation Media Group is building direct relationships in the age of AI search
Kenya’s majority youthful demographic (median age 19, 75-80% under 35) means publishers face greater pressure from platforms than from search. Nation Media Group (NMG), the largest independent media company in East and Central Africa, responded to this with a platform-native approach and a deep investment into digital and tech.
The company has been undergoing significant challenges and changes, including new ownership – and an editorial overhaul that may pay well off: while NMG’s 2025 revenue fell 3.1% in print decline, digital and broadcasting each grew 5%. The company’s digital reach rose to 63.6 million users and paywall subscriptions grew 13%.
NMG is one of nine case studies in WAN-IFRA’s new report, Thinking beyond just adoption – the next AI phase for publishers. The cases examine AI-assisted journalism, subscriptions, search, licensing, distribution and direct audience relationships. The report also draws on a survey of 125 publishing executives across 40 countries. This report is free for Members.
Download the full report on our Knowledge Hub.
Harnessing AI across editorial and business strategy
The first major publisher within the region to establish an in-house AI framework, NMG employs AI across operations, from workflow automation and content production to content production and diversification, and including commercial strategy.
NMG’s experience with search traffic has had minimal impact on that strategy.
“Interestingly, referrals from AI platforms have resulted in higher engagement and subscription conversion – albeit very low traffic volume,” acknowledges James Smart, Managing Editor of Broadcast and New Media at NMG.
So while the company is exploring partnerships with AI companies, “particularly on the revenue share model,” and continually optimising content for AI search, they are not depending on it.
“As much as we continue to optimise for search traffic, there is even a greater focus within the newsroom to build and sustain direct relationship with readers,” asserts Smart.
NMG is working to leverage this through AI search optimisation – and is prioritising collection of first party data by scaling their in-house customer data platform (CDP), explains Smart. “The CDP is based on a modern data architecture and with huge capabilities to do scoring, predictions and decisions based on models powered by artificial intelligence. This has resulted in being efficient as a newsroom as well as utilising resources optimally, generating value with minimal cost.”
Driving engagement and subscriptions through video
One such efficiency includes building an editorial desk dedicated to short form video, and embracing creators within the newsroom – then achieving a one million-following milestone on TikTok, via group subsidiary NTV Kenya. On the social platform, the channel recorded 459 million views over the past year, with top videos surpassing 14 million views – and shares in multiple hundreds of thousands.
A digital soft rebrand of flagship publication Daily Nation in April 2025 was equally successful, pushing monthly unique digital users past 63.6 million, and cementing its position as a leading news platform.
“Being primarily audience-driven and not necessarily AI search-driven helps us to keep up with evolving audience behaviour online to drive subscriptions with formats that fit the platforms they are found,” asserts Smart.
This evolution is unfolding across NMG’s operations, as owned audience data drives product innovation, customer segmentation and commercial growth.
One audience, one ecosystem
- NMG’s print, broadcast, radio, and digital properties (NTV, Nation FM, Daily Nation, Business Daily, and The EastAfrican) are combined into an integrated ecosystem with clear understanding of who its readers and viewers are.
- Radio has been scaled to traditional stations, and TV operations are consolidated into a single multi-lingual station under NTV.
- The overhauled Nation App serves as a unified multimedia platform, bundling print content alongside live broadcasts, podcasts, and digital e-papers.
Unlocking diversified revenue and digital monetisation
- Digital Paywalls: While NMG was fairly late to launch digital paywalls, only offering subscriptions to flagship platforms land regional subsidiaries five years ago, digital subscription is robust and growing.
- From impressions to performance: Rather than selling broad, untargeted ad impressions, NMG uses owned audience data to offer advertisers measurable return on investment (ROI) and clearer audience segmentation.
- Unbundling specialised content: Niche content is converted into standalone digital subscription products like the award-winning MwanaClick app, a Tanzanian subsidiary aimed primarily at a younger, mobile-first audience.
For NMG, the AI search era is less about defending traffic than about owning the relationship. The company views reach, engagement, and paid subscriptions as interdependent measures of success, rather than isolated goals, notes Smart. By grounding its digital transformation in high-impact journalism – “Topical issues with potentially longer shelf life are serialised to sustain engagement and subscriptions,” by example – NMG proves that platform-native innovation and editorial integrity can secure the future of journalism.
