Soul of the South Network, which operates TV stations and provides programming for affiliates aimed at African-Americans, has signed a content distribution agreement with Arise TV to provide it with news from around the world.
Arise TV describes itself as “an emerging news and entertainment channel” designed to “promote and celebrate all that is African and Afropolitan across all continents.” It has offices in London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos.
Arise TV will provide five and a half hours of co-branded daily news to Soul of the South, which owns TV stations and has more than two dozen affiliates. Most of the stations are in the southern United States and in large northern cities with a significant African-American population. Soul of the South launched in May 2013.
“This deal further solidifies our commitment to news and information programming,” added Doug McHenry, CEO of Soul of the South. “We will broadcast five and a half hours of news daily, along with our original programs and syndicated product.“
“This deal provides us with a vitally important presence in the U.S. broadcast market, and gives Soul of the South viewers a never before available perspective on the news beyond their own borders,” Nduka Obaigbena, Chairman and founder of Arise TV, said in a statement.
Arise says it is a 24-hour original content company with a team of over 500 journalists and broadcasters in front of and behind the camera. It says it reaches 40 million households over the air, and 7 million cable households.
On Sept. 29 Soul of the South announced that it had added WMDE in Washington, D.C. as its latest affiliate, beginning Oct. 1. That now gives it distribution in nine of the top 10 cities where African-Americans reside.
“WMDE gives us a platform in the city and access to the powerful and, just as important for us, the not-so-powerful, who often don’t get a seat at the table,” McHenry said in a statement.
