KBC or Kenya Broadcasting Corporation is the first and most prominent broadcasting networks of Kenya. KBC Kenya was formed by the colonial administration around 1960 as a broadcasting network serving Kenya and its people.
After the independence of Kenya in 1963,the Government of Kenya changed the name of KBC to Voice of Kenya(VoK) in a bid to nationalize the department under the Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and Tourism(later renamed Ministry of Information and Broadcasting). The Government wanted VoK to be an essential instrument of propagating their ideas and viewpoints.
Voice of Kenya was unable to bring in the calculated amounts of profits as expected. Various reasons like poor transmission,small number of TV sets,etc added to the fact that the masses of Kenya accepted radio as a better media of communication.
The name was again changed back from Voice of Kenya to KBC in 1989 by another act of the parliament. The complete state control over broadcasts was also removed in 1990. Throughout 1990s KBC signed a series of agreements with Japan to improve the quality of their transmission. Projects to enhance modernization in the field of transmission has also been taken up in 1993.
KBC Kenya comprises of both radio and television broadcasts. In 2000,Metro TV,a channel under the aegis of KBC was introduced targeting the younger audience.
The emergence of new channels in Kenya with time has not hampered the importance of KBC Kenya, the most significant of them all.
