Ebony magazine’s parent company, Ebony Media Group, and Lionsgate said they are working together to launch a new free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel called Ebony TV by Lionsgate.

The channel is set to debut on Samsung TV Plus on October 11. By the end of the month, it will also be available on Roku, Tubi and Amazon Freevee.

Ebony TV by Lionsgate will feature content from the Lionsgate library that celebrates Black culture, the companies said.

Movies on the channel will include: The Great Debaters, Snitch, Dear White People, If Beale Street Could Talk, Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All by Myself and Jackie Brown.

The channel will also feature shows such as Are We There Yet? and Kevin Hart: What the Fit. 

“Ebony has long been an outlet our culture could count on for news and entertainment,” said Ebony CEO Eden Bridgeman Sklenar. “Our new partnership with Lionsgate and the launch of Ebony TV is an extension of our brand that will provide our audience with Black-focused programming that furthers our mission to Move Black Forward.”

Channels targeted at Black audiences make up just 2% of all available FAST channels in the U.S., while African Americans represent 14% of the U.S. population.

“With the exceptional growth of MovieSphere by Lionsgate over the past year, we are excited to collaborate with Ebony to launch our first FAST channel providing premium Lionsgate content tailored to Black audiences,” Lionsgate head of domestic Channels and executive VP and managing director, Canada, Susan Hummel said. “Ebony  is the perfect partner to help bring our expansive library to a demographic that has been previously underserved in the FAST space.”

Michele Thornton Ghee, the former senior VP at ViacomCBS's BET Her, has been named CEO of Bridgeman Sports & Media-owned Ebony and Jet magazines. Ghee, who was a MCN Wonder Woman in 2019, will be charged with creating the vision and activating the strategy for these iconic brands as she steers them into the 21st century, the company said in a release. The brand value proposition will be embedded in Information|Inspiration|Inclusion, it said.

"Everything we say will come through the lens of Black journalists," Ghee said in the release. "We will ensure there is a safe space for Black journalism to thrive. I'm a little Black girl from Oakland, CA. I'm not apologizing for any of it. Our voices matter. We are History in the making!"

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Ghee's career in media marketing began in 2000 when she moved to New York City and obtained a position at The Weather Channel.  She progressed to positions at A&E, CNN and BET. She left BET in 2019 to join Endeavor Global Marketing. She also has developed her own self brand, Stratechic, which she has expounded on in books and in successful speaking roles.

Owner Eden Bridgeman said in the release: "We are honored to have Michele Ghee at the helm to steward these iconic brands. With a proven track record over a storied career thus far and a passion to bring her life experiences to Ebony and Jet we are excited at the future she will create. The next chapter of Ebony and Jet's history will be told for generations to come and having her continue to authentically document, innovate, and uplift the culture will be keys to our success."  

Veteran tv producer Lemuel Plummer will look to reach faith-based African American viewers with a new streaming service set to launch in third quarter 2019.

The service, Black Box Faith, will feature hundreds of thousands of hours of sermons and other religious-themed content currently archived by churches and pastors, according to service officials. 

Plummer (Preachers of L.A., Zeus Network) will team with ICM Partners, Ebony/Jet magazines and Vimeo on the project, which he said will be the first ever SVOD platform to provide instant access to the word of God anytime, anywhere and on any device. The subscription price for Black Box Faith as well as distribution deals will be released at a later date, according to service officials. 

“With Black Box Faith we are delivering sermons and faith-based content to a deeply religious and dedicated African American audience that is very adept using technology to access must-watch content whenever, wherever and on any device,” said Plummer in a statement. “We want to change a generation, changing how committed, faith-based audiences receive content.”

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