Kenya Television Network is a Kenyan broadcast television network that was launched in March 1990 by Jared Kangwana. It is headquartered at Standard Group Centre, Nairobi. It was the first privately owned free-to-air television network in Africa and the first to break KBC's monopoly in Kenya.
After its launch in 1990, KTN used to rebroadcast programming from CNN International, MTV Europe, and other European, American, and Australian television channels, as well as television networks from other African states. KTN began as a pilot project for a 24-hour subscription television channel in and around Nairobi, but plans to scramble its signal were abandoned and for most of the 1990s, KTN derived its revenue from broadcast services. production of advertising and television.
Founded by Jared Kangwana, its initial success attracted joint ownership bids from London-based Maxwell Communications, South African MNET and the then-ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) party. The station won the bid to broadcast the 1992 Summer Olympics, as well as the rights to several other international events.
Although Jared Kangwana had plans to expand KTN and had built new facilities to house the station, he allowed KTN's news division free rein. KANU officials are said to have frequently called the newsroom and editors on behalf of Kenya's president, [citation needed] Daniel arap Moi, to censor the news.
Such control was said to have been sanctioned by Moi himself, who had developed the habit when he was still Vice President under President Jomo Kenyatta. As vice president, Daniel arap Moi had made a habit of making regular calls to the offices of The Standard, which was foreign-owned at the time, and to other media outlets, demanding that stories be removed or changed. The practice was revived when KTN was established.