Linda Ikeji TV: Here's how much it cost media entrepreneur to set up online streaming service

"I know that it's not half a billion. It's probably towards six - seven hundred million naira," Linda Ikeji says about cost of setting up Linda Ikeji TV.

Linda Ikeji, the founder of new online streaming service, Linda Ikeji TV (LITV), has shared how much it cost to set up the platform.

In an interview with Business Insider, the media entrepreneur said it cost her over 500 million naira to set up the business.

"I know that it's not half a billion. It's probably towards six or seven hundred million, but I don't want to believe that I went as far as seven hundred million," she told Business Insider.

"We have so many equipment - that's how we were able to do multiple shoots. We have a lot of cameramen, presenters, sound technicians, and editors who are in-house. We have a mini jib and a fully loaded music studio.

"Sometimes I think to myself, 'Did you need to go that far?' We also have a place in Lekki Phase One that I got for two reality shows in the works. We bought eight cameras there. We have three studios right here. We have the green room here. And then, we have done reality shows with celebrities."

 

The media entrepreneur said all reality shows on LITV are self-funded.

"We have some reality shows that have 6 cast and crew members in total. There are people in Magodo right now that I paid for them for at least two weeks. Some people have been there for a month. Some people are there for "Highway Girls," they are going to be there for two weeks. We are shooting simultaneously and we have to pay for everything. The cost of production is capital intensive."

 

 

In the interview, the media entrepreneur revealed that they have been working on the  shows since June 2017.

As a novice producer, she made some mistakes and hired some people who didn't know what they were doing. Eventually, they had to bring in more professionals for quality delivery.

"We have gotten it right now. But, that's why it took us that long to put the shows together. There are over 35 shows, so one year is not a bad time to produce such an amount of content."

 

On LITV, there are 10 reality shows - including reality shows with celebrities like Tonto Dikeh, Toyin Aimakhu and Ice Prince - 21 TV shows, and over 10 movies.

"A lot more stuff is coming. Like when I launched it, I said it's just 1% of the things we want to do. I just wanted to launch, let people see a bit of what we have done until others come."

On Friday, June 8, 2018, Linda Ikeji launched Linda Ikeji TV, and within three days of launch, the platform already had 10,000 subscribers.