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Mr Pikirayi Deketeke

Pamela Shumba, Senior Reporter
ZIMBABWE Newspapers publications have maintained their market dominance, with The Chronicle’s readership increasing by eight percent.

The Herald is leading the daily papers while The Sunday Mail has maintained its first position in weekly publications.

The Zimbabwe All Media Products Survey (ZAMPS) released in Harare yesterday shows that in the daily papers segment, Zimpapers publications lead the pack in readership.

The Chronicle’s readership which was propelled by its local news coverage, rose from nine percent in 2014 to 17 percent in 2016 while The Herald’s readership increased from 26 percent in 2014 to 31 percent in 2016.

The Chronicle’s local news section also recorded an increase in readership from 46 percent to 65 percent.

In the weekly papers segment, The Sunday Mail came out tops with its readership increasing from 19 percent to 27 percent while the Sunday News increased from four percent to seven percent.

B-Metro’s readership also increased from five percent to 11 percent while H-Metro’s readership increased from 14 percent to 20 percent. Manica Post grew its readership in the period under review from four percent to 8,5 percent.

The survey shows that the general readership of the print media has increased in both urban and rural areas.

In the broadcasting sector, Zimpapers’ radio station Star FM continues to dominate urban listenership increasing its reach by a point with a 51 percent grip on the market up from 50 percent in the last survey. ZiFM follows with 28 percent listenership while Radio Zimbabwe recorded a 26 percent grip with Power FM, SFM and National FM bringing up the rear.

Zimpapers Group Chief Executive Mr Pikirayi Deketeke said the latest ZAMPS results show that the fully integrated media house is a market leader in the media business.

“As a part of people’s daily lives; we have managed to remain their first choice when it comes to the provision of information. Zimpapers remains committed to being a credible, tried and tested brand when it comes to distributing content through multiple platforms. Most of our products are doing well and growing in terms of appeal to audiences.

“This will never make us complacent though. We will continue to do what we have always done as a corporate; which is to work hard, constantly innovate and break new frontiers,” he said.

Mr Deketeke congratulated Editors in the group and their teams as well as the Star FM and Diamond FM teams for the good showing in this latest survey.

He urged them to work even harder, saying competition increases when one is in the lead.

@pamelashumba1