Radio 254 at 5 Years & The Lessons Learned

It is crazy to imagine that on 1 April 2025, Radio 254 will be five years old. The idea of Radio 254 began in 2013, but it was not until 2020 that Radio 254 became a reality. Surviving five years is not an easy feat for any business, and the life span of most online radio stations is between 2 and 3 years. Before Radio 254, I remember WhatGoodLive and Asylum Radio being two of the pioneer online radio stations in Kenya. As a stakeholder in the Online Radio Landscape in Kenya, it is always sad to see other online radio stations exit the scene because we don’t view other online radio stations as competition but actually would like to see them win. In previous articles and tweets, we have even gone ahead to recognize new entrants in the scene, Baze Radio and Pawa Radio, for their efforts and contributions to the online radio landscape in Kenya, which we would like to see grow and flourish. If you are an online radio stakeholder, please reach out to us, and we would love to share with you our research and analysis on the online radio landscape in Kenya.

With that said, as we celebrate five years of active online radio broadcasting, we would like to share some of our lessons learned to help us both reflect as well as help others who may one day be in our shoes.

1. Branding and Niche: One of the most important things about online radio is how you brand the station as well as the station’s niche. With so many different platforms out there that people consume content, online radio stations have to be very intentional about how they brand themselves. Most online radio stations are simply playlists; what makes the difference is how you brand them.
2. Sustainability: The reason that most online radio stations don’t succeed is that most online radio stations are started by hobbyists who run online radio stations as side gigs or passion projects; thus, the thought of making money isn’t a priority. It is very important that whether you are doing online radio as a business or as a hobby, you figure out how to sustain it from the very beginning. This can be done through advertising or donations.
3. Value: As an online radio station, you must offer value to people otherwise, people will see no need to listen. Value can come in different forms, such as education, entertainment, or giveaways. At the end of the day, you have to offer people a reason to listen. Someone might listen for an interview while another might listen to hear their song or their friend’s song being played. At the end of the day, however, you have to offer some sort of value and ensure that what you are offering is considered valuable to your audience.
4. Online Radio Directories: The biggest mistake that people make is thinking that having a website and mobile application makes you an online radio station. These are both helpful, but what is even more important is online radio directories.

As we continue on this journey, we at Radio 254 would like to thank the over 50 million people who have tuned in to Radio 254 since we started. We would like to thank everyone who has ever donated and supported us and, lastly, everyone who has ever submitted their music or been a part of our team. We love you and will forever remain grateful to you!

To those who tune in every day and allow us to be a part of their daily lives, we appreciate you. To those who don’t listen, you don’t have to. Millions of people already are every day!

As an online radio station, you will never be for everybody; there are billions of people on the planet, and it would be impossible to please everyone. Find your audience/tribe and grow with them. Those who will catch on will do so eventually. The trick is not to give up, no matter how hard it gets.

Thank you for 5; we look forward to the next 5 as we seek to offer more value to our audience.