Streaming as Strategy for Displaying the Black Experience

• In Event: Research Symposium - Session V

Abstract

In 2020 while the nation remained hyper-focused on the issue of race, demand for streaming platforms was high as millions were for months staying home to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 Coronavirus Pandemic. But, even before the Pandemic, there were already some efforts to stream Black-oriented content launched by cable networks desperately trying to remain relevant to audiences who were “cutting the cord.” Black Movie Channel Those efforts intensified in 2020 and continued in 2021. A collaboration between Viacom CBS and film and TV show creator Tyler Perry, BET + (BET Plus) launched in 2019 as a streaming service made primarily for an African American audience. The man who started BET started an over-the-top on-demand service called Urban Movie Channel in 2014. The Urban Movie Channel re-branded as ALLBLK in January 2021. Meanwhile on the news and information side, The Black News Channel launched in 2020 and Black Star Network in 2021
As a study of programming strategy, this paper is a first attempt to take a snapshot of the streaming networks and services that are oriented toward African American audiences. Their development must be examined within the context of the history of representation of the African American experience on television. Additionally, such research must also be aligned with recent scholarship on streaming technologies and audience demands for content on web-based platforms. Six streaming initiatives are the focus of this study, including two that were primarily entertainment-based (AllBLK, BET +) and four that are news and information-based (Fox Soul, The Black News Channel, Black Star Network, Our America).

Author

• George L. Daniels, University of Alabama