The first video that opens up when I search for Emmanuella – the 6 year old comedy sensation who has grown from YouTube videos shot in the Niger Delta to the stages of major comedy fiestas in Lagos – is Episode 71 of her running web series.

It has 2,571,789 views.

And it’s not the video with the highest views. That honour goes to Episode 54 (“I will beat you o”) – shot barely five months ago.

It has 5,629,393 views.

Listen: Over the past three years that she has been producing videos (page was set up in June 2013), this young woman has racked up 100,978,580 views.

Let’s put this in context for you.

Channels Television. A ‘WHOLE” Channels TV. The most aggressive and successful media station hosted on YouTube, has 60,178 videos. It joined YouTube more than 2 years before Emmanuella. It has only 68,314,629 views.

Channels TV. 60,178 videos = 68,314,629

Emmanuella. 71 videos = 100,978,580.

Pulse Tv has 3,464 videos. Joined about the same time as Emmanuella (only two months behind). Has invested massively in Facebook, Google and must likely YouTube ads.

Total number of views? 18,764,135 views.

Is this not witchcraft?

And it’s not just because it’s comedy. Afterall, the entrepreneurial 45-year-old AY, joined 4 years before her, and all he has to show for it is a (to be honest, impressive-for-Nigerian-YouTube) 49,123,323 views upon 531 videos.

Emmanuella is the clear winner – when it comes to media and entertainment content, and by a long mile.

She has 458,901 subscribers on her channel. And it’s one of two channels that are linked to her and her Mark Angel Productions cover outfit. No one comes close.

In addition to raking in the usually-measly-but-for-average-1-million-views-per-video-solid-for-Emmanuella YouTube video income, we see an ad roll from AY on his latest film at the end of her latest video (a hilarious skit called ‘Combantrin’ which reminds you of why she is endless – because she is unfailingly funny, and whoever writes her scripts knows the work).

For comparison, Toke Makinwa is one of the most influential voices for Nigerian YouTube content – building a national profile based on her controversial videos, and spawning off a generation of copy-cats hoping to work the same magic.

But her total number of views, like everything in total?

4,059,403.

Because Emmanuella is not anybody’s mate.

(Except for His Holiness, Lord TB Joshua. 720 videos. 397,155 subscribers • 162,114,836 views. Because God must take the glory.)

 

PS: See anything worth talking about on the ins and outs of the media business in Nigeria on TV, radio, print and online (could be news, tweets, photos, opeds etc) send us a mail on [email protected] titled TMB. Let’s share the insight together!