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  • November 2021 (Revised April 2022)
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EbonyLife Media (A)

By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

Founded by Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu in 2012 with a mission to bring high-quality African stories to the world, EbonyLife was the company behind many of Nigeria’s biggest films and TV shows. The company began as a television channel on the Africa-wide direct broadcast satellite service DStv. By 2020, EbonyLife had produced over 5,000 hours of television content and Nigeria’s top-three highest-grossing movies. With a need for greater control over its production schedules and following the end of its relationship with DStv EbonyLife launched EbonyLife ON (EL ON), an on-demand streaming service. However, EbonyLife struggled to grow its subscribers of EL ON. Abudu started to rethink whether to continue fighting to grow EL ON. Should EbonyLife focus instead on co-production deals with international media distributors such as Netflix, Sony and AMC?

Keywords

Entrepreneurship; Mission and Purpose; Growth and Development Strategy; Digital Platforms; Consumer Behavior; Media and Broadcasting Industry; Nigeria; Africa

Citation

Wu, Andy, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding, and Wale Lawal. "EbonyLife Media (A)." Harvard Business School Case 722-372, November 2021. (Revised April 2022.)
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About The Authors

Andy Wu

Strategy
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Feng Zhu

Technology and Operations Management
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Related Work

    • November 2021 (Revised December 2021)
    • Faculty Research

    EbonyLife Media (B)

    By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    EbonyLife Media

    By: Andy Wu
    • March 2022
    • Faculty Research

    EbonyLife Media (A)

    By: Andy Wu
    • November 2021 (Revised April 2022)
    • Faculty Research

    EbonyLife Media (A)

    By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal
Related Work
  • EbonyLife Media (B) By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal
  • EbonyLife Media By: Andy Wu
  • EbonyLife Media (A) By: Andy Wu
  • EbonyLife Media (A) By: Andy Wu, Feng Zhu, Pippa Tubman Armerding and Wale Lawal
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