Master P Launching Cable Network
Percy Miller announces launch of family-friendly Better Black Television.
By B&C Staff -- Broadcasting & Cable, 8/15/2008 7:22:00 AM
Percy Miller announced the launch of new cable network Better Black Television.
Miller’s announcement did not include mention of any carriage deals.
The former Master P described BBTV as “a family-friendly network that will provide positive content for a black and brown culture that will appeal to all races with a goal to bring people of color a choice when turning on their television.”
Miller said BBTV’s content will include health and fitness; animation; financial planning; reality TV; sitcoms; dramas; movies; “responsible” hip-hop music and videos; politics; sports and entertainment news; educational children's shows; and teen and family programming.
BBTV said its preliminary show list includes:
· Sunset and Vine, a video show hosted by Vyshonn Miller and Brittany Phillips;
· One Shot Comedy Show, hosted by Gary Johnson (a.k.a. G-Thing) and some of the funniest comedians around;
· Children's educational show Gee Gee the Giraffe;
· Manage Your Money, aimed at improving financial literacy;
· Close to the Starz, a behind-the-scenes look at celebrities;
· Karma TV Show, a bilingual soap opera with an African-American and Latino cast;
· What's Cooking TV Show, a talk show covering entertainment and current events while cooking and enjoying a good meal;
· The Black List Movies, featuring family-friendly content; and
· Hip-Hop Garage Show, featuring new and upcoming artists in their latest music videos and interviews “selected with content appropriate to BBTV's mission and standards.”
"It's extremely important to feed clean, quality and positive subject matter to our families,” chairman and CEO Miller said in a statement. “We believe TV content can be positive and responsible and still have good ratings with great content.”
Miller continued, “BBTV will offer all kinds of family friendly entertainment that everyone can enjoy. Our mission is to target the new generation of responsible African-American and multiethnic English-speaking American and family-oriented and responsible hip-hop consumers who are taking charge of their families and striving for a better tomorrow.”
BBTV advisory-board members include: Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winner Denzel Washington; businessman and Academy Award-nominee Will Smith; Vault Load Films president, entrepreneur and senior-level business executive Jim Finkl; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People executive director Vicangelo Bullock; professional basketball player and businessman Derek Anderson (Charlotte Bobcats); 20-year cable-television and film-industry veteran Sal Martino; businessman, community activist and founding father of hip-hop DJ Kool Herc; entrepreneur, businessman and animation specialist Olatokunbo Betiku; and community activist, board president of Nailah House Foster Family Agency, speaker and teacher at Trump University and real estate mogul Curtis Oakes.
"Better Black Television has been a vision of mine for some years," Miller said in a statement. "I've done a lot to promote and change the way messages are relayed to our children and our families over the past few years. Promoting positive content and positive messages is so important to educate and preserve the next generation.”
He added, “Being exposed to positive content is what changed my life. I believe there is a market in our community for a new diverse network that provides a new brand of superior programming that caters to all aspects of television from reality to original programming. In addition, I'm excited to be able to expose the urban community to a vast array of jobs in the entertainment community that they might not otherwise be privy to. I have a great relationship with BET and MTV, and my son and I will continue to do work with them and support their networks. With BBTV, we're spearheading the initiative to meet consumer demand for family friendly hip-hop content."
