Ebony Media

What Ebony Media does

Ebony Media Group, LLC is the publisher of EBONY Magazine and operates a multi-platform Black media business built around an 80-year editorial brand founded in 1945. The company produces written, visual, and event content covering entertainment, style, sports, culture, politics, and lifestyle for Black American audiences, distributed through ebony.com, an email newsletter, social channels, the EBONY TV streaming channel carried via Lionsgate Channels, and live events including the EBONY Power 100, Beauty & Grooming Awards, and Sensory Soirée destination-marketing activations. The portfolio also includes the EBONY Voices documentary series launched in January 2026 and the EBONY Shop e-commerce storefront.

The company's business model is diversified across five revenue streams: advertising and sponsorships on ebony.com, e-commerce merchandise sales through the EBONY Shop, event ticketing and sponsorship for signature programs, content licensing of its archival library, and recurring newsletter subscriptions. Specific pricing is not publicly disclosed. Customer segmentation is horizontal: a primary B2C audience of Black American adults, B2B advertisers and brand partners (Louisville Tourism, Angel's Envy, Lionsgate Channels), and a secondary geographic segment serving the global Black diaspora. The company is privately held under CEO Eden Bridgeman Sklenar, operates with a reported 1–10 employees, and has not disclosed funding, revenue, or detailed financial metrics.

From a technology standpoint, Ebony Media operates a standard digital content management system with multi-platform distribution infrastructure rather than proprietary technology. No AI/ML capabilities, public APIs, SDKs, or data products are disclosed in source materials. The company's defensible technical footprint is concentrated in its 80-year editorial archive, its trademarked sub-brands (EBONY TV, EBONY Shop, EBONY Power 100, EBONY Voices), and its Lionsgate partnership for streaming distribution — all of which compound brand equity rather than technology differentiation.

Name

Ebony Media

Legal name

EBONY Media Group, LLC

Website

https://ebony.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1945

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cultural Media Publishing

NAICS

Periodical Publishers (51312), Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Media Streaming Distribution Services, Social Networks, and Other Media Networks and Content Providers (516210)

SIC

Periodicals: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2721), Services-Advertising Agencies (7311)

akta.pro primary industry

Community-Integrated Publishing Platforms (MPACAIAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Syndication, Licensing & Content Partnerships (Columns, Features, Photos) (MPAJADAI), Branded Content & Sponsorship Licensing (Integrations, Product Placement) (MPABANAH)

Keywords

• Black media publishing
• Cultural lifestyle content
• Entertainment journalism
• Digital media brand
• Beauty and grooming awards

Headquarters

HQ city

Port Charlotte

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Digital Commerce or Content

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Advertising & Sponsorships: Revenue generated through advertising on ebony.com, sponsored content, and brand partnerships
2. E-commerce (EBONY Shop): Merchandise and product sales through the EBONY Shop storefront
3. Event Sponsorships & Tickets: Revenue from events like EBONY Power 100 gala, Sensory Soirée partnership events, and Beauty & Grooming Awards
4. Content Licensing: Licensing and reuse of EBONY's archival and current content library to other media outlets
5. Newsletter Subscription: Email newsletter subscriptions providing weekly updates, events, and content highlights

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Ebony Media operates a multi-platform Black media portfolio built around the flagship EBONY Magazine (print and digital), the ebony.com website, the EBONY TV streaming channel distributed via Lionsgate, the EBONY Shop e-commerce storefront, and signature programs including the EBONY Power 100 awards, the EBONY Beauty & Grooming Awards, and the EBONY Voices multimedia documentary series. The company produces editorial content across entertainment, style, sports, culture, politics, and lifestyle categories, monetized primarily through advertising, brand sponsorships, e-commerce merchandise sales, event sponsorships and tickets, content licensing, and newsletter subscriptions.

Product overview

Ebony Media operates as a comprehensive Black media company offering a multi-platform portfolio centered around its flagship EBONY Magazine (print and digital), the EBONY.com digital platform, EBONY TV streaming channel, and EBONY Shop e-commerce. The company also runs signature programs including the EBONY Power 100 awards, the EBONY Beauty & Grooming Awards, the EBONY Voices multimedia documentary series, the STAMPED editorial series for Black Music Month, and an email newsletter service. The portfolio works together as a unified media ecosystem serving Black audiences across entertainment, fashion, culture, politics, and lifestyle content.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EBONY TV: Television channel available via Lionsgate channels, featuring Black culture and entertainment programming.
• EBONY Shop
• EBONY Power 100
• EBONY Voices

Products and services

• EBONY Magazine The flagship print publication of Ebony Media, providing coverage of Black entertainment, celebrity news, fashion, culture, politics, and lifestyle content since 1945. Targeted at Black American adults seeking culturally relevant journalism.
• EBONY.com

Quantifiable outcome

• EBONY Power 100 program recognizes and celebrates Black leaders, innovators, and changemakers annually
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Louisville TourismflagshipGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 March 2026EBONY partners with Louisville's official tourism bureau for the third annual Sensory Soirée event, bringing Louisville culture (food, music, art, bourbon traditions) to Brooklyn, New York. This promotional event showcases the destination to New Yorkers and Black audiences through live music, bourbon tastings, and interactive cultural experiences.
• Angel's EnvycoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 24 March 2026Angel's Envy serves as bourbon partner for the Sensory Soirée events, providing bourbon tastings and activations as part of the cultural experience showcasing Louisville's bourbon traditions.
• Lionsgate ChannelsflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorEBONY TV is distributed through Lionsgate Channels, making EBONY's curated Black entertainment content available to streaming audiences through the Lionsgate platform network.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ESSENCE Communications: ESSENCE is the most direct competitor to EBONY — a multi-platform Black-owned media company publishing ESSENCE Magazine, hosting the ESSENCE Festival, and producing digital content targeting Black women. Both brands compete for the same Black American audience and the same advertising and sponsorship dollars, with overlapping verticals in entertainment, beauty, fashion, and culture.
• Revolt TV: Revolt is a multi-platform Black-owned media company operating a TV channel, digital platform, and events focused on hip-hop culture, music, and Black lifestyle. It directly overlaps with EBONY's music, culture, and entertainment verticals and competes for the same younger Black audience and music/lifestyle advertisers.
• The Root: The Root is a digital-first Black news, culture, and opinion publication owned by Slate. It competes directly with EBONY's Culture, Politics, and Life verticals for Black American readers and the advertising dollars targeting that audience, particularly in political and social commentary.
• MadameNoire: MadameNoire is a digital lifestyle publication targeting Black women with content on entertainment, beauty, relationships, and culture. It directly competes with EBONY's Style and Life verticals for Black female readership and the beauty/lifestyle advertising budgets that EBONY's Beauty & Grooming Awards targets.

Broad incumbents

• BET (Black Entertainment Television): BET is the largest Black-focused media brand in the US, operating TV channels, BET+, digital, and the BET Awards. It competes with EBONY for both audience attention and brand partnership revenue, but operates at significantly larger scale and with substantially more capital under Paramount ownership.
• People Magazine: People is a mainstream celebrity, entertainment, and lifestyle publication. While not Black-focused, it competes with EBONY for celebrity-exclusivity content and entertainment advertising, and represents the kind of mass-market incumbent that has historically eroded Black-media market share on mainstream celebrity coverage.
• OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network): OWN is a cable/streaming network targeting Black and female audiences with original programming, films, and lifestyle content. It overlaps with EBONY TV's Black audience focus and competes for streaming viewer attention and entertainment-adjacent sponsorship dollars.

Emerging players

• Blavity Inc. Blavity is a digital media holding company operating Blavity, AfroTech, Shadow & Act, and 21Ninety — targeting younger Black audiences and the Black tech ecosystem. It is an emerging player that overlaps with EBONY's culture and entertainment verticals but focuses more on digital-native and Gen Z/Millennial Black audiences.
• Group Black: Group Black is a media collective and ad-tech platform connecting advertisers with Black-owned media brands. It is both a potential partner and competitor to EBONY in the Black-audience advertising marketplace, and signals the rise of programmatic/collective alternatives to legacy brand-direct deals.

Others

• Color of Change: Color of Change is the largest online racial justice organization in the US. While not a direct media competitor, it is a significant cultural-influence actor that shapes Black consumer media narratives and frequently partners with — or critiques — Black media brands including EBONY.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ebonymag
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ebony-media-inc
• Facebookfacebook.com/ebonymag

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ebony Media