Ebru TV, which has been facing financial difficulties, has been sold off to local investors, according to people familiar with its operations, though the management insists they are still in talks with a number of bidders.
The sale comes at a time the TV station is experiencing cash flow difficulties due to shrinking revenues. Ebru Television Director General told BT that five companies had been shortlisted and Ebru Kenya board is negotiating with their respective boards to squeeze the best deal. “Buyers have given us offers and our board is considering them,” the manager said. “We have not sold yet. This is a company, not shoes that can be sold just like that.”
The manager could not reveal the identities of the bidders due to confidentiality agreements, said Ebru still maintains its American ownership until a sale is concluded. Internal sources, however, said a deal had been reached in February with local investors who are set to take over from this month.
The television station, started about five years ago in Kenya, started experiencing problems last year after funding taps were turned off by its the parent company in Turkey. The owner of the parent fled the country after the coup into exile. Ebru Kenya was dependent on funding from the parent company called Samanyolu, which closed operations after the coup.
Samanyolu TV is an international TV station with headquarters in Istanbul, Turkey, but will other successful operations in the US. On 19 July 2016, its license was revoked and the channel closed by the Radio and Television Supreme Council of Turkey due to alleged links with the 2016 Turkish coup d’état attempt. A total of 131 media organisations were shut following the July 15 failed coup.
A decree signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on July 23, saw the shutting of three news agencies, 16 television stations, 23 radio stations, 45 newspapers, 15 magazines, and 29 publishing houses and distribution companies. The government alleged that the affected organizations were linked to the Hizmet movement, which the government blames for the July 15 military coup attempt.
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Samanyolu has another office in Pennsylvania, USA, where it is now coordinating its affairs. Mr Kilic confirmed Ebru’s Kenya operations is still being funded from the US. The founder, who has since run into exile, is said to have been a business partner of President Erdoğan but the two had fallen out by the time of the coup.
“The thing is, when they started all funds were coming from States,” said a source. “They did not look for any ads.”
With reduced funding, Ebru Kenya was forced to fire a number of employees in December 2016, including journalists, and left the newsroom with a skeleton staff in a cost-cutting measure aimed at making the company more attractive to prospective buyers. “The reason we were given was cost cutting and that they are selling the company’s shares to another investor who had showed interest.”
Sources say there were about 15 buyers by December last year.
Ebru started off in Kenya with a plan to cover the entire Africa, just like CCTV of China has been doing. But soon it realized the strategy was not working and rebranded to focus on the Kenyan market. Early last year, there was talk of Mediamax, which runs K24 and People Daily and owned by President Uhuru Kenyatta, buying Ebru but the management denied the claims.
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Rebrand to focus on Kenya
“Feedback from Kenyans indicated that they don’t like the international programmes that Ebru was offering so management was forced to refocus on more local stuff,” said an insider.
That’s when Ebru Africa relaunched in June last year and dropped ‘Africa’ from its name to just Ebru TV, with more local content, to compete against mainstream news TV stations such as Citizen, KTN, NTV and KBC. It has a presence on most platforms including DStv, GOtv, Zuku StarTimes and Bamba.
But even in this segment, things aren’t as rosy with many TV stations unable to break even. Already, a good number of those that joined the fray during the 2015 digital migration are limping including, for example, WTV and Cosmopolitan TV.
