THE AFRICA CHANNEL BUILDS OFF 2023 UPFRONT SUCCESS WITH CABLE AND STREAMING OPPORTUNITIES FOR BRANDS TO CONNECT WITH BLACK AUDIENCES
Demand Africa Streaming Platform to become Available as AVOD Option for the First Time, with New FAST Channels Featuring Lifestyle Content from the Global Black Diaspora
LOS ANGELES – The Africa Channel Inc. (TAC), a Black-owned and Black-targeted company with a mission to celebrate the diversity of culture from across Africa, has announced today its content plans for the 2024-25 upfront, spanning both its cable (The Africa Channel) and OTT (Demand Africa) platforms. This includes a significant expansion of its streaming business, with the upcoming launches of new, free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channels and the expansion of Demand Africa, currently only available as an SVOD service, for the first time as an AVOD offering.
The 2023-24 upfront was a huge success for TAC, with a 140% increase in on-air inventory sold vs. 2022-23, and increased ad revenue of 155% and revenue by household up 164% year-over-year. Additionally, upfront commitments increased 57%, thanks to additional revenue from six of the top eight advertising holding companies, and double the number of national brands making upfront commitments. This includes leading Pharma, Retail, Automotive, Financial and CPG brands.
TAC today unveiled its plans to build upon that success across linear television and streaming, including a series of new and continuing partnerships. This includes the previously-announced, multi-pronged agreement with BLKFAM – backed by Whoopi Goldberg and founded by industry veteran Larry Adams earlier this year – through which TAC will be launching a BLKFAM branded programming block on cable and hub on Demand Africa, as well as a BLKFAM FAST channel debuting in the near future.
Additionally, today TAC has announced plans to expand in the growing area with a suite of new FAST channels featuring movies and lifestyle content appealing to Black audiences. The first will be Afro-Cinema, coming this spring, and featuring a curated selection of films, documentaries, series and cultural programming – from established and emerging storytellers – to amplify authentic voices and narratives from across Africa and its global communities. Afro-Cinema will be followed by FAST channels showcasing music, travel, cooking, home, beauty and more.
These linear, FAST channels are being added to Demand Africa, and will also be offered to popular FAST platforms in the coming months. Additionally, a new AVOD version of Demand Africa will go live later this year, opening up CTV advertising opportunities for brands looking to connect with this audience. TAC is also having active conversations with third-party FAST channel operators to add their channels to Demand Africa.
“There continues to be strong demand for diverse content targeting Black audiences and we are filling that gap not only by showcasing programming from across the continent but also by seeking new ways to connect with viewers on every platform,” said TAC COO Narendra Reddy. “Our approach is working, as evidenced by the content and brand partners we are fortunate to work with, and we are confident that our focus on engaging the community not only on cable, but also SVOD and FAST adds more depth and breadth to our offering in the marketplace.”
Added TAC SVP Business Development Dean Cates, “With this increased inventory on Demand Africa, along with the new ‘TAC365 CTV’ offering in partnership with Multimerica’s expansive AdEX Network we are now able to empower brands to reach and authentically engage with Black audiences in 95% of US CTV households and across multiple digital touchpoints.”
New and Continued Partnerships Enable TAC to Meet Demand for Premium Content
The Pew Research Center has reported that one of every 10 Black people in the U.S. are immigrants, projected to reach six million in 2030, up from only 800,000 in 1980. According to a study by Horowitz media, 66% of Black Americans seek content that showcases the diversity of Black Cultures from all around the world.
With more than 1,000 hours of new and renewed programs across all genres, The Africa Channel is successfully meeting this demand by identifying and delivering premium content for an engaging and impactful viewing experience.
Leading into the 2024-25 season, TAC has closed multiple deals, strengthening its continued relationships with some of the most prominent providers of content from Africa and the Diaspora and affirming the interest in an expansive global view of Black programming in America. This not only provides access to this quality programming to viewers, but also opportunities to these partners for robust revenue streams outside of Africa.
About The Africa Channel Inc.
The Africa Channel Inc. is a media company whose sole mission is to celebrate the diversity of culture from across today’s Africa, serving audiences that are interested in the Global Black Diaspora.
About The Africa Channel
The Africa Channel is a linear television network that aims to demystify modern Africa for viewers in the Americas. Available via pay TV distributors across the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean, The Africa Channel entertains and informs audiences with original series, movies, documentaries and specials as well as current affairs, soaps and cultural programming.
Viewers can watch the company’s flagship linear channel via pay TV distributors across the U.S., including Charter’s Spectrum, Comcast and Cox Communications, as well as in Canada on Rogers Ignite and Bell Fibe and in the Caribbean via the Caribbean Cable Cooperative. It is part of The Africa Channel Inc.
About Demand Africa
Demand Africa is a global OTT and streaming video service connecting audiences to the best lifestyle, movies and TV from Africa and beyond. Demand Africa’s mission is to celebrate and amplify modern Africa’s influence on the world by connecting global audiences to entertainment as diverse and bold as the continent itself. Demand Africa has offices in Los Angeles and Johannesburg, South Africa, and offers several thousand hours of content; audiences can explore the culture, people, places and traditions of Africa. Demand Africa is available on www.demandafrica.com; as an add-on subscription service on Amazon’s Prime Video Channels and The Roku Channel; as a standalone subscription video on demand (SVOD) app for mobile (iOS, Android), and connected TV (Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV, Roku) devices; and as a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel distributed via several third-party platforms around the world.
