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When did Capital FM join Next Radio?
The Ugandan media landscape has experienced a historic shakeup on Tuesday, June 23, 2026, as multimedia giant Next Media and pioneer radio broadcaster Capital Radio Group formally announced a massive strategic partnership. The unexpected alliance brings together some of the country’s most dominant television, radio, and digital streaming platforms under a unified cooperative framework.
Aimed at maximizing audience reach and offering unmatched cross-platform advertising solutions, the merger of resources marks a massive turning point for contemporary broadcasting in East Africa. For listeners, viewers, and corporate advertisers trying to understand what this massive announcement means for their favorite programs, here is the full breakdown of how this alliance works and how it impacts the industry.
Did Next Media buy Capital FM Uganda?
No, Next Media has not bought Capital FM, and Capital Radio Group has not been acquired or taken over. The official media statement released by both corporations makes it explicitly clear that this is a strategic collaboration, not a buyout or a merger.
Both media houses will remain completely independent commercial entities with separate management structures, distinct operational control, and independent corporate ownership. The arrangement is strictly designed to share cross-platform strengths rather than consolidating financial assets under a single board of directors.
What are the terms of the Next Media and Capital Radio Group partnership?
The strategic collaboration is engineered around three primary operational pillars designed to create a massive multimedia ecosystem in Uganda:
- Content Sharing: The two organizations will share select news feeds, investigative journalism logs, entertainment updates, and sports assets across their digital and broadcast channels to provide richer, faster coverage.
- Cross-Platform Advertising Engagement: Corporate advertisers can now purchase integrated, multi-platform ad packages that run simultaneously across Next Media’s television channels and Capital Radio Group’s dominant FM frequencies, offering unmatched campaign reach.
- Joint Experiences & Live Events: Audiences can expect massive, co-branded experiential events, national concert partnerships, and joint live broadcasts pooling together top talent from both media empires.
Which media brands and radio stations are included in the deal?
The alliance merges the consumer footprint of two distinct broadcasting heavyweights, connecting elite television channels with Uganda’s longest-running, most influential urban radio frequencies.
| Media Conglomerate | Core Brands and Platforms Included in the Alliance |
| Next Media | NBS Television, NBS Sport, Sanyuka TV, Nile Post, Next Radio, and the AfroMobile streaming app. |
| Capital Radio Group | Capital FM (91.3), Beat FM (96.3), and KIIS FM. |
Will Capital FM, Beat FM, or NBS TV change their names and presenters?
No, none of the stations involved will undergo name changes, brand overhauls, or presenter re-shuffles as a result of this announcement. The corporate leadership teams have explicitly emphasized that both companies will maintain their strict brand identity and editorial direction.
Listeners of Capital FM’s Desert Island Discs or Beat FM’s Mwasuze Mutya ne Nakachwa will still hear the exact same programs, and NBS Television will maintain its unique editorial independence. The collaboration happens entirely behind the scenes at the executive and digital distribution level, ensuring that the unique identity and flavor of each individual station remain completely untouched.
What does the Next Media and Capital FM alliance mean for corporate advertisers?
For corporate brands, media buyers, and marketing managers across East Africa, this alliance completely rewrites the rules of advertising placement in Uganda. Historically, advertising agencies had to split their budgets and navigate separate procurement lines to buy space on premium television (like NBS) and top-tier urban radio (like Capital FM).
“This collaboration creates a powerhouse gateway for advertisers,” a local media analyst noted following the announcement. “By running synchronized campaigns across television, radio, print journalism, and mobile streaming databases under a single collaborative pipeline, brands can eliminate audience fragmentation and maximize their return on investment.”
Furthermore, with Next Media’s robust digital infrastructure via the AfroMobile platform, Capital Radio Group’s dominant audio streams will secure deeper, highly optimized digital monetization channels, giving advertisers clear data metrics on exactly who is consuming their products across both traditional and digital spaces.
