K24 TV refuted circulating rumours about its shutdown, labelling them “fake news.” The station is still operational, but its parent company, Mediamax Limited, is in the midst of significant restructuring. It is implementing substantial layoffs that may impact up to 90% of the newsroom staff.
Mediamax Limited is a prominent Kenyan media entity that manages various platforms, including K24 TV, the People Daily newspaper, and radio stations such as Kameme FM, Milele FM, and Emoo FM.
The alleged closure arises during a challenging period for Kenya’s media landscape, which is facing unprecedented hardships characterised by newsroom downsizing, delayed paychecks, and outright closures.
In mid-2024, the Standard Group shut down KTN News, a leading 24-hour news station and the first of its kind in the country, causing widespread concern in the sector.
Other major news outlets have struggled with similar issues in recent years, largely due to increasing operational costs, a drop in advertising revenue, heightened competition from free online content, and growing governmental pressure on critical reporting. Instances of these issues can be seen widely throughout the media landscape.
On August 15, 2025, K24 TV firmly dismissed the shutdown rumours as “fake news,” encouraging its audience to follow its official channels for trustworthy updates.
The station continues to broadcast live programs, including prime-time news and various other segments, and streams content on its YouTube channel.
Despite K24 remaining on air, Mediamax Network Limited is undergoing a critical restructuring process. A redundancy notice issued on July 14 indicated that significant staff reductions, aimed at cutting operational costs, would occur between July 15 and August 15, 2025. Reports suggest that nearly 90% of K24’s newsroom staff, including anchors and producers, have been let go.
This drastic downsizing underscores the broader challenges confronting the Kenyan media sector, including diminishing advertising revenue, the erosion of traditional income sources, delayed government payments, and the increasing allure of free online content. While K24 TV is still operational, the extent of the layoffs and the restructuring at Mediamax illustrate the severe crisis the media industry faces.
This claim has been echoed across multiple channels.
