Launched on Africa Magic Showcase (DStv Channel 151) in early 2015, Taste of
Love is the Nigerian television industry’s first foray into the daily telenovela drama
series format. Harking back to the tough 1990s years when Nigeria was under the
military dictatorship of Gen. Sani Abacha, Taste of Love is a Romeo and Juliet-type
story involving a feud between two rival sugar cane farming families – the Musa-
Philips and the Pepples. As the patriarchs of the two families are locked in endless
conflict with one another, their children are involved in a clandestine romance.
The series is produced by Lagos-based content acquisition, production and
distribution company, Micromedia Marketing Ltd and is shot on location in Ibadan,
Ilorin and Lagos. After its launch on DStv in February, the series has attracted
interest among various international content buyers, becoming a new addition to the
lucrative and cross-cultural telenovela market that has already seen productions
from as far afield as Turkey and Mexico reaching audiences across Africa. The
format has become popular among daytime television viewers – unlike soap operas,
they have a definite beginning and end, even if the series runs for a long time.
Not long after the launch of the show, the producers were inundated with requests
for a downloadable version of its theme song. Even outside of Nigeria, the theme
song became something of a hit. The song will be available to download on 9
September 2015.
Taste of Love is produced in both French and English-language versions, catering to
both its home market and other Anglophone countries, as well as marketing it to
the francophone television content market, with its hub in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Micromedia Marketing is also the company behind long-running soap opera Tinsel,
reality series, Omotola: The Real Me, and children’s arts and crafts show Mister
Maker.
The cast includes Lilian Esoro, Makida Moka, Mofe Duncan, Blossom Chukwujekwu,
and Gabriel Afolayan.
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