The Africa Channel will roll out several new shows in celebration of Juneteenth and Black Music Month, including a documentary special on the emerging Afrobeats music genre.

Afrobeats: Nigeria to the World debuts June 22 and examines the Africa-originated music genre's origins, what defines the beat, and how it has evolved from Africa to America, according to network officials. 

Also airing on the 22nd is a concert music special, Music for Wildlife, which introduces audiences to  both established new African musicians while raising awareness for wildlife around  the world featuring some of the world’s leading stars and activists supporting the movement, including Lupita Nyong’o, Davido and Jackie Chan. 

On June 23, Africa Channel will debut Muziki Ni, a concert series featuring prominent and emerging artists of all genres from Africa and the Diaspora as they share the inspiration behind their music and unique music videos, said the network. 

During the June 19 Juneteenth holiday, the network will re-air several documentary films chronicling the lives of iconic legends, including Serena Williams, Simone Biles and Tina Turner, said Africa Channel.

Also: The Five Spot: Narendra Reddy, COO, The Africa Channel (Q&A)

The Africa Channel said it is working with Multimerica AdEX to give advertisers an opportunity to sponsor culturally relevant content across connected TV at scale.

In 2023, The Africa Channel introduced TAC365, which gives advertisers a chance to connect with diverse audiences on its cable channel year-round during holidays and cultural moments such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Black History Month, Black Music Month, Africa Day and Juneteenth.

With TAC365 CTV, The Africa Channel offers advertisers a chance to buy a pod consisting of a clip of Africa Channel content combined with a brand spot that can be distributed via the 800 streaming channels in Multimerica’s AdEx Network. 

The channels in the AdEX Network reach 95% of CTV households.

Multimerica AdEX’s programmatic technology places the pods in front of diverse but targeted audiences. 

The opportunity to work with two Black-owned companies is an added benefit for marketers.

"At TAC, we're deeply committed to amplifying Black voices and empowering brands to connect authentically with Black audiences at scale,” said Dean Cates, senior VP of sales and business development at The Africa Channel.

“There is a growing desire to buy CTV inventory at scale directly from diverse-owned companies, but it has been very difficult to do. With this new offer we aim to help solve these challenges and fulfill this demand by placing brand messages where our audience lives on CTV,” said Cates. “Our TAC365 CTV solution, powered by Multimerica, is a giant leap forward. It allows brands to engage diverse Black communities with ad experiences during powerful moments that resonate deeper as they are culturally aligned.”

TAC365 has been popular with advertisers on cable including TurboTax, which celebrates Black entrepreneurship and financial literacy during Black History Month, and Walmart, which has supported TAC during Black History Month, Juneteenth, Black Business Month, the back to school and holiday seasons.

The Africa Channel said TAC365 helped increase upfront commitments by 57%.

Multimerica AdEX said it provides advertisers with access to key audiences in a brand-safe and fraud-free environment.

Working with The Africa Channel, AdEX can deliver relevant custom creative and interactive elements, such as custom QR codes.

"Multimerica's mission has always been to connect brands with key audiences across the CTV universe through meaningful premium media. Partnering with TAC for their TAC365 CTV solution is a groundbreaking industry move,” said Rodney Northern, CEO & Founder of Multimerica AdEX.  “By combining TAC's rich cultural programming and Multimerica's robust targeting technology and national scale, we're opening a new era of authentic connections for brands seeking to engage Black culture lovers at scale.”

The Africa Channel will tap the TED Talks catalog of video interviews to create a new series set to debut on the network in June.

The TED Talks on TAC will feature fresh perspectives on storytelling, culture, conversation and identity from authors, celebrities, sports icons and artists with unique points of view, according to network officials. The first set of topics and speakers will include such icons as television producer Shonda Rhimes, tennis star Serena Williams and TV personality Gayle King, the network said.

The collaboration between TAC and the nonprofit TED company will also look to establish an annual TED X Live Event, supported by key sponsorships from brands and advertisers. In addition, the companies seek to create additional TED Talk events that speak to the global Black experience, the network said. 

“We are proud to partner with TED Talks, to amplify and celebrate voices from the Global Black and African Diaspora and to bring to our viewers topics that are both relevant and entertaining from thought leaders, entertainers, authors, activists and other world-renowned personalities,” The Africa Channel senior VP of business development Dean Cates said in a statement.

The Africa Channel is promoting Liberty & Justice, the first Made In Africa swimwear line.

Liberty & Justice, features classic African prints in its designs, earlier this year had its product go on sale at Target stores.

The promotion comes during Black Business Month and is part of the TAC365 initiative announced at The Africa Channel’s upfront presentation.

TAC365 is a series of seasonal opportunities for brands to join the network in highlighting holidays and cultural moments including Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Black History Month, Africa Day and Juneteenth.

For the promotion The Africa Channel provided a  video crew to cover LIberty & Justice’s fashion show during Swim Week in South Beach. 

The channel produced a three-minute video that includes interviews with Sean Combs’ twin daughters, Jesse and D’Lila Combs, who modeled the swimwear,  actor and singer Quincy Brown and LIberty & Justice founders Chid LIberty and Georgie Badiel Liberty. 

The video is running on The Africa Channel during promotional time.

In addition to the video The Africa Channel sponsored a dinner for Liberty & Justice at Soho House inSouth Beach before the Swim Week fashion show. 

In a television marketplace with increasingly diverse programming offerings, The Africa Channel continues to connect the culture and lifestyle of the African continent to U.S. audiences.

The 18-year-old independent network’s lineup of Africa-based lifestyle and food shows, scripted series and movies can be viewed on multiple platforms including cable, through deals with Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Communications; via agreements with free ad-supported TV platforms such as Xumo Play, Pluto TV and Tubi; and through subscription VOD service Demand Africa.

Navigating the network’s operations is veteran international programming executive and Africa Channel chief operating officer Narendra Reddy. The former independent producer and NBCUniversal executive spoke with Multichannel News about the network’s distribution and programming fortunes in an evolving multiplatform television universe.

What are some of the distribution challenges The Africa Channel faces in a crowded television marketplace? Despite the increase in the number of platforms, there is a much smaller subset of platforms that are designed and built to reach specific communities, in particular the African diaspora. Our distribution strategy is to essentially go to where our audiences are, so we are working with the traditional cable and satellite providers. We’ve also expanded our reach into the virtual MVPD platform, including agreements with Roku and Amazon, as well as with FAST and AVOD aggregators such as Xumo, Pluto, Tubi, Samsung and others. I also personally believe that there is also a strong play for us in the subscription video-on-demand market [with Demand Africa].

What is behind the increasing interest in Africa-based television, music and fashion here in the U.S.? My mantra and what I’ve been advocating is that Black audiences are not monolithic. We’re seeing genres including [Africa-based] lifestyle, music, sports, travel and food all gaining a lot of resonance now across cultural lines. We believe that there is a Pan-African identity that can connect with 150 million people of the diaspora.

Having said that, what then is Africa Channel’s target audience sweet spot? I will just say broadly, our audience is people of African descent who have made their home voluntarily or involuntarily outside of the continent of Africa. The secondary audience is those who have an interest in travel, lifestyle and culture, particularly that of Africa and its people.

Will The Africa Channel eventually look to develop original programming? Based on our current economics, I would say that 70% of the content is carefully curated and licensed programming from across the continent and the diaspora. We’ve also been producing programming that speaks about the people who’ve made other countries their home, whether it’s in the U.K. or the U.S. We’ve created an upcoming series called African Royale that follows the life of a young American heiress who is honoring the legacy of her royal Nigerian heritage but who’s also navigating an independent life in America. Over the last year, we’ve been developing a slate of scripted coproductions through our production arm,
[TAC] Studios. 

Given your history in the business, do you feel that today’s television
environment is the most welcoming to diverse content? Yes, and not just for the sake of increasing on-screen diversity, but because there are so many interesting diverse stories to tell. The streamers have helped make the world a smaller place when it comes to programming. Given the increased polarization in our audiences today, I do believe that there is an opportunity for media companies and storytellers to use the medium to build bridges in this country. 

The Africa Channel said it will air the U.S. premiere of the Music For Wildlife concert series during Black Music Month.

Working with The Wild Africa Fund and The Rockstar Group,  the concert series will have its premiere on June 10.

With flights from over 100 Music for Wildlife concerts, the series will feature artists including Alyn Sano, Ckay, Musa Keys, Focalistic, Macky2, Anita Jaxson, Bombshell, Towela, Zikhona, Zipheko, Mampi, KP Illest, Shekhinah, Selmor Mtukudzi, Azawi, Vinka, Nomculo, Aymos, Bokkie ULT, Nanette, Kasango, Winnie Nwagi, Kamo Mphela, Black Motion, Sally Boss Madam and Top Cheri 

“We are delighted to be working with [the Wild Africa Fund and The Rockstar Group] in supporting their innovative partnership in building bridges between African musicians and wildlife conservation. We believe American viewers will be both entertained and materially informed about both topics by watching these wonderful concerts,” said Narendra Reddy, COO of The Africa Channel.

The Africa Channel is also working with The Wild Africa Fund and the Rockstar Group to put Music For Wildlife and other series on the Demand Africa platforms. They will jointly sponsor live music concerts, original TV specials and series around Africa-inspired music genres.

“We’re proud to partner with the Africa Channel and our shared goals - to promote the conservation of the most incredible wildlife on the planet and incredible African musical talent. Both are vital parts of the continent’s cultural heritage. We hope the series inspires people to visit Africa supporting local economies and the wildlife at the same time,” said Peter Knights, CEO of Wild Africa Fund.

The Africa Channel said it doubled its ad sales in 2022 and is looking to build on that momentum by making its first upfront deals this year. 

The number of brands advertising on the network grew by five times last year, said Dean Cates, senior VP of business development & sales. 

“On-air at The Africa Channel we celebrate Black History 365 days each year,“ Dean Cates, senior VP of business development and sales, said. “The nature and breadth of our programming library provides flexible, turnkey and customizable opportunities for brands to authentically tap into and amplify key Black American cultural moments and to develop even deeper connections with the channel’s audience and their interests.”

The Africa Channel unveiled TAC365 — a new palate of seasonal and quarterly brand opportunities designed to amplify key holidays and cultural moments such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Black History Month, Black Music Month, Africa Day and Juneteenth.

“Data shows that the channel’s viewership is engaged, upscale and educated, skewing female and over-indexing in home ownership, education and income,“ added chief operating officer Narendra Reddy. “This audience’s strong affinity for content that embraces lifestyle, finance, travel and culture, and their heritage, which directly informs The Africa Channel’s programming decisions.” 

Recent distribution deals with Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Cable have tripled the channel’s reach to more than 16.5 million homes, Reddy said.

The Africa Channel participated in media buyer Magna’s Equity Upfront event this week, looking to attract ad spending earmarked for Black-owned and Black-targeted networks.

“What some in the media sector fail to realize is that Black audiences are not a monolith,“ The Africa Channel’s principal owner, Paula Madison, said. “I’m Chinese Jamaican and the daughter of immigrant parents to the U.S. Being Black and Asian makes me a living example of the wide diversity of today’s Black American audience.

“In 2020 the Black American population grew to 46.9 million and 21% of this audience is comprised of Black Immigrants and their Children. During the next 20 years that number is projected to double,” Madison said. “The Africa Channel’s business activities are driven by a clear-sighted vision of this community and the very diverse and multicultural interests of this audience.”

This year during Black History Month, The Africa Channel offered a sneak peek of its new reality series African Royale, in which a member of African royalty — Her Imperial Highness Abimbola Fernandez — navigates the culture of Black America.

Other original series on the network are World Wide Nate: African Adventures and Amah Knows Best.

The network has new seasons of its daily show Expresso and Focus on Africa.

The Africa Channel will have the U.S premieres of the films Housewives and Lemonade and will be showing the documentaries In Focus: Rooted and The Rising. ■

Charter Communications said it has reached a deal to expand carriage of several African-American themed networks — AspireTV, Black News Channel, Impact Network, Revolt TV, The Africa Channel, TV One and Cleo TV — to its pay TV customers subscribing to the Spectrum TV Select video tier across its entire 41-state footprint. The rollout is expected to be completed by the end of June.

Spectrum TV Select is Charter’s most popular basic programming tier with about 125 channels, and is priced at $49.99 per month for the first 12 months. 

“Charter is committed to delivering programming that reflects the diverse interests of our customers, and these networks offer a wide variety of African American-themed news, lifestyle, entertainment and inspirational content,” Charter executive VP of programming acquisition Tom Montemagno said in a press release. “By including these channels on Spectrum TV Select we will significantly increase the networks’ potential audience while providing millions of our TV customers with even more choice, entertainment and value – at no extra cost.”

The channels were available on pricier Charter tiers in the past, and includes at least one channel that is likely to disappear in the future. In March, Black News Channel CEO Princell Hair said the network was shutting down in a memo to employees. However, at the moment BNC is still on the air. 

“We applaud Charter for its commitment to expanding access to diverse programming and making sure more networks that cater to Black audiences like Revolt are introduced to millions of Spectrum TV Select customers across the country,” Revolt TV CEO Detavio Samuels said in a press release. “We are focused on building the largest Black-owned media company that changes the narrative of Black culture, and carriers like Charter play a big role in helping Revolt achieve this goal by amplifying content that elevates the culture across categories.”

Among the channels included in the agreement are:

AspireTV: The television network that celebrates and reflects Black culture and urban lifestyle. AspireTV offers reality series, specials and independent films as well as dramas, contemporary comedies and documentaries that connect with and reflect its viewers.

Black News Channel: The only provider of 24/7 multiplatform programming dedicated to covering the unique perspectives, challenges and successes of Black and Brown communities. BNC delivers live news programming each weekday.

Impact Network: Founded in Detroit by Bishop Wayne T. Jackson and Dr. Beverly Y. Jackson, and is the fastest growing, 100% African American, independently owned Christian network in the United States. 

Revolt TV: A leading Black-owned and operated multimedia platform founded by Sean “Diddy” Combs in 2013, and servicing content 24/7 across digital, linear, and live media channels. The platform produces rich content and original material with the biggest names in Hip Hop, along with reports of breaking news, current events, trends and announcements within the Black cultural movement and Hip-Hop world. 

The Africa Channel: A showcase for English language television series, feature films, documentaries and news about Africa and its influence on the world. 

TV One Networks: The hub of Black culture and entertainment with a broad offering of original programming and classic series, serving both diverse audiences for TV One and Cleo TV. Each network has a unique audience that serves viewers with fan favorites. Both networks are solely owned by Urban One, Inc., the largest African American-owned and operated multi-media company.

“We are excited Charter has expanded carriage of TV One Networks across its footprint,” said TV One and Cleo TV president Michelle Rice in a press release. “They are a great partner and like us, Charter recognizes the value of offering greater accessibility to diverse content that equitably and authentically represents the demographics of the viewers and communities we mutually serve.” ■

The Africa Channel has gained additional linear distribution across all Cox Communications systems as part of a recent carriage agreement between the two companies.

The deal gives the service — which offers pan-African content to U.S. audiences — access to Cox’s Contour TV subscribers in Las Vegas, New Orleans, Phoenix, San Diego, Cleveland and Norfolk/Hampton Roads, Virginia, said the network.

The Cox agreement follows recent carriage deals with Charter Communications and Comcast that put The Africa Channel in front of 11 million subscribers, the network said. 

Also: BNC Inks Carriage Deal with Cox Communications 

”This is a particularly exciting time for us at The Africa Channel which, despite prevailing trends in the industry where audiences appear to be cutting the cord in favor of OTT and digital streaming options, has seen impressive growth in interest, viewership, and distribution in our traditional broadcast offering,“ The Africa Channel executive VP and general manager Narendra Reddy said in a statement. “We attribute this success to our belief, now supported by a growing number of studies which show that diverse, multicultural and niche audiences who mainstream media have often ignored will gravitate towards platforms, traditional or otherwise, when the content is customized to their unique viewing needs. ■

Charter has extended its carriage agreement with The Africa Channel across its 41-state footprint, both companies said.

The deal increases the channel’s distribution across Charter’s Spectrum TV beyond its New York and Los Angeles markets to include subscribers in Birmingham, Charlotte, Columbus, OH, St. Louis and Tampa, according to the distributor.  

The Charter deal follows a similar expansion agreement with Comcast announced last month. The network did not reveal specific subscriber numbers.

“We are excited to be able to bring more Spectrum customers the diverse range of programming presented by The Africa Channel,” said Charter Communications Executive Vice President, Programming Acquisition Tom Montemagno in a statement. “We believe that this content entertains, informs and creates understanding among audiences, and we are committed to supporting The Africa Channel in this mission.”

The Africa Channel has promoted veteran media executive Narendra Reddy to executive vice president and general manager.

Reddy, formerly executive vice president of content & Global Operations for TAC, will be responsible for all operations related to The Africa Channel, including its recently announced production arm TAC Studios, said network officials.

Prior to joining TAC in 2014, Reddy served as general manager for Dream Works Animation India, a division of DreamWorks Animation, SKG, providing oversight for all aspects of the studio’s operations as well as being involved with global strategic planning for the company. 

"Narendra has been instrumental over the last 12 months in laying out a compelling vision for The Africa Channel,” said Elrick Williams, TAC's President & CEO in a statement. “In this short period of time he has demonstrated leadership, fiscal responsibility and a results-driven attitude that makes him a great asset to our senior leadership team. I look forward to working closely with him as we continue to expand TAC¹s footprint globally."

The Africa Channel will launch 13 new series as part of its new slate of original content, network officials said Tuesday.

The network on April 18 will expand its popular morning show Expresso to four hours with a new series dubbed Afternoon Express that will look at cooking, fashion, finance and well-being trends.

Along with the new series, the network will launch two new programming blocks featuring content from Nigeria, as well as programming targeting families. The network beginning April 18 will launch “Nollywood Night,” a Monday night block of Nigerian-based content which includes such shows as Before 30, which follows the lives of four 20-something Nigerian girlfriends; Gidi Up, about four close friends and their struggles to achieve their dreams; as well as films created in Nigeria, said network officials.

Africa Channel’s “Family Fun Zone,” launching weekend mornings starting April 23 will feature wildlife themed docu-series Siyaya: Come Wild With Us, and cooking-themed series Little Big Cook Off.  

Other new series set to premiere on The Africa Channel are:

·         Durban Beach Rescue: Lifeguards take action during the height of the holiday season. (Reality)

·         Bukas & Joints: Food and travel through Nigeria. (Food)

·         Tales from the Bush Larder: Culinary adventure through East Africa. (Food)

·         Long Miles Coffee Project: High stakes investment for an American couple and Burundi coffee farmers.  (Reality)

·         Making of a Mogul: African-born entrepreneurs share their secrets to success. (Lifestyle)

·         Death in Paradise: Caribbean police unit solves crime with fish out of water British detective. (Comedy)

·         Room 9: Paranormal police occult unit hunts down perpetrators of evil. (Drama)

"This is our most ambitious programming rollout ever, in keeping with our objective of making 2016 a breakout year for our network,” said Karen Juve, vice president of programming and acquisitions for Africa Channel in a statement. “These new series bring the very best of food, lifestyle, family and general entertainment programming from Africa to our viewers in the U.S. and Caribbean."

The announcements come as Africa Channel recently reached business deals with ad sales company HotHouse Media, distribution company T Media Sales, and African content creators AfricaXP.

The Africa Channel has retained HotHouse Media to handle its affiliate sales and distribution duties, as well as T Media Sales to oversee ad sales for the network, said company officials.

The network also said it has reached content and channel partnership deals with Africa-based content distributor AfricaXP.

HotHouse will work closely with cable, satellite and telco distributors to expand the network’s footprint in U.S. markets, while T Media Sales will focus on programming sponsorships and direct response sales, according to network officials.

"We have evolved our programming to a point where The Africa Channel is a very strong candidate for rapid subscriber expansion and an engaging environment for advertisers to showcase their brands and services,” said Narendra Reddy, executive vice president of content & global operations for TAC. “HotHouse Media and T Media Sales have long track records of success in their respective areas of expertise, and they are ideal partners for us as we enter into an accelerated and exciting phase of our growth."

AfricaXP will serve as the exclusive agent for supplying content to The Africa Channel from African producers, as well as play a role in content sourcing and development for the network while managing all aggregation, quality control and delivery logistics for the network.

“By partnering with AfricaXP on a premium channel launch in Africa, and having access to their cloud-based channel compilation and delivery system, we will be able to expand by focusing our investment on developing African content assets, which is where we really want to play,” Reddy said.

The Africa Channel later this month will celebrate the annual worldwide Congo Week initiative with programming highlighting the Central African territory.

The network will air Congolese-themed movies and specials as part of the seventh annual initiative running Oct. 20-26, which commemorates the millions of lives lost in the Congo conflict while highlighting the culture, traditions and daily modern life of the people of the Congos, said network officials.

Online, the network will present a photo essay of the Rumble in the Jungle, documenting the historic 1974 fight in Africa between challenger Muhammad Ali and heavyweight champion George Foreman.

"Congo Week on The Africa Channel promises to demystify this intriguing and important part of the world,” said Lee Gaither, general manager and executive vice president of The Africa Channel in a statement. “We are proud to support this tremendous worldwide initiative, which reflects our network's mission to expose viewers to the lifestyle and culture of people on the African continent."