Maina Kageni and Mwalimu Kingang’i- Is the Classic 105 FM morning show really vulgar?

The morning radio show at Classic 105 FM is no doubt one of the most listened to morning shows in the country. Boarding a matatu in the morning, one is likely to find listeners gleefully waiting for Maina and Mwalimu Kingang'i to air the controversial topic for the day. Listeners would then call in to air their views on the topic for the day. Maina Kageni will take a stand on an issue and Mwalimu Kingang’i will take on an opposing view. The listeners will then call in, supporting either of the two and bashing the other. There are people who have become widely known simply by calling in daily. One of such people is Wakanai, who calls in regularly and provides intriguing details depending on the discussion for the day. The genius of the morning program is that the content is largely generated by the listeners. Maina Kageni and Mwalimu Kingang’i do not have to struggle to generate topics since a listeners opinion today will be used as the discussion topic tomorrow.

Of course, proponents of family values and morality have regularly urged authorities to clamp hard on the program as it destroys the basic values in the family. For instance, the Muliro Gardens sex saga really drew in a lot of criticism from media regulators. Judging from the audience numbers, the program seems to be a major hit with listeners. The number of commercials that air during the show are simply mind boggling. This has made Maina Kageni to be one of the highest paid Kenyan celebrities and one of the most talked about in the Kenyan celebrity gossip sites. He regularly flies to Las Vegas just to have a cool time. Even though some Kenyans routinely argue that the media should focus on development aspects, we can surely bet that they won’t be ready to listen to such a station. For instance, there is also a parallel program on Easy FM by Munene Nyagah and Marcus. There is a pastor in the program but judging from the number of advertisements, it seems there aren’t too many people listening to the program.

This is the classical paradox of many a media owner. How do you balance between airing useful stories and ensuring that the revenues targets are made? Perhaps, this is one of the reasons why global media tycoon, Rupert Murdoch, invests in serious media stations as well as tabloids. He knows that the tabloids are the ones that really make him the money but he buys the serious ones too to save face among his friends.