When Bounce TV debuted this week, it became the first-ever broadcast television network for African Americans. But by the end of the year, it is quite possible that Bounce TV won’t be the only one.
TV industry sources say Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios has been shopping around KIN TV, a new multicast network targeting an African-American audience.
KIN TV will offer a “wide range of programming designed to entertain, inform and inspire a broad audience of modern African-American viewers,” according to a video presentation that TVNewsCheck found on the Internet.
The service is overdue. The video says it would launch in the summer of 2011. MGM officials declined to comment for this story.
MGM is an established player in the diginet business. One of the strongest contenders in the diginet space is This TV, the joint venture of MGM Entertainment and Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting. Launched in 2008, This TV reaches 85.6% of U.S. TV homes with top MGM movies and classic TV shows.
MGM also handles distribution for Weigel Broadcasting’s Me-TV, a diginet offering classic TV sitcom and dramas, which rolled out nationally last December. It's cleared in 62% of TV homes, and now available in more than 50%, according to Me-TV's Neal Sabin.
MGM is reportedly partnering with Lee Gaither, a media consultant and former TV executive. According to Gaither’s LinkedIn profile, he is president/CEO of KIN TV.
Gaither, who now runs Basil Street Media, a media production and consulting company, helped launch the African American cable network, TV One, and is a former NBC Universal programming executive. He did not immediately return TVNewsCheck’s call.
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TV industry sources say Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios has been shopping around KIN TV, a new multicast network targeting an African-American audience.
KIN TV will offer a “wide range of programming designed to entertain, inform and inspire a broad audience of modern African-American viewers,” according to a video presentation that TVNewsCheck found on the Internet.
The service is overdue. The video says it would launch in the summer of 2011. MGM officials declined to comment for this story.
MGM is an established player in the diginet business. One of the strongest contenders in the diginet space is This TV, the joint venture of MGM Entertainment and Chicago-based Weigel Broadcasting. Launched in 2008, This TV reaches 85.6% of U.S. TV homes with top MGM movies and classic TV shows.
MGM also handles distribution for Weigel Broadcasting’s Me-TV, a diginet offering classic TV sitcom and dramas, which rolled out nationally last December. It's cleared in 62% of TV homes, and now available in more than 50%, according to Me-TV's Neal Sabin.
MGM is reportedly partnering with Lee Gaither, a media consultant and former TV executive. According to Gaither’s LinkedIn profile, he is president/CEO of KIN TV.
Gaither, who now runs Basil Street Media, a media production and consulting company, helped launch the African American cable network, TV One, and is a former NBC Universal programming executive. He did not immediately return TVNewsCheck’s call.
Click here for more info