The Africa Channel, a cable television and streaming channel offering entertainment, education and lifestyle programming, will collaborate on content with Whoopi Goldberg-backed streaming service Blkfam, the two companies announced on Monday.
As part of the partnership, the Africa Channel will debut a programming block on its cable channel dubbed “Blkfam on TAC” that will showcase select content from the free streaming service that launched in mid-February.
Later this year, The Africa Channel’s streaming platform, Demand Africa, will offer a dedicated content hub for Blkfam TV series and films, the companies affirmed.
“Blkfam is filling a vital need for Black families who deserve a platform through which they can see themselves and their culture reflected through wonderful programming that is curated for family viewing,” Larry Adams, the founder and CEO of Blkfam, said in a statement. “Partnering with TAC presents a brand-safe environment that is truly inclusive of global Black and African culture, and this partnership will contribute to the diversification of content available to American viewers.”
Adams said the partnership with the Africa Channel helped address “the historical underrepresentation of Black voices and stories in mainstream media, offering opportunities for these narratives to be shared in all their textured variety, celebrated and amplified to inspire a new generation.”
“Partnering with TAC is a great way to enhance the Blkfam,” Adams affirmed.
As part of the partnership, the Africa Channel and Blkfam will work together to find new ways to empower Black creators, writers, directors and actors, which involves production and distribution of certain content. The partnerships will see the Africa Channel and Blkfam collaborate on a new free streaming television channel that will launch at some point in the future, one that the Africa Channel will help program and manage.
“We are excited to embark on this journey together, leveraging our collective resources and expertise to develop and secure high-quality programming that resonates with audiences interested in Black family narratives,” Narendra Reddy, the Chief Operating Officer at the Africa Channel, said on Monday. “We were particularly interested in working with Blkfam to connect Black American families to their African heritage, using our media platforms to promote understanding and make a lasting positive impact on the communities we serve.”
Blkfam offers more than 1,000 hours of TV shows and movies, with titles like “My Friend T,” “Sprinkled with Sweetness,” “Faith McGrace: The Super Saint,” “Five Monkeys, “12th Street Disciples,” “The Last Astronaut” and “Wake Up Kid,” among others.
The service was founded by Adams, a digital media executive, who called Goldberg to see if she would be interested in partnering on the project, according to Variety.
“The magic of working with Whoopi Goldberg is, she has a magic bag of ideas,” Adams said in an interview with the trade publication.
Goldberg said she was drawn to the idea because she has a 10-year-old great-granddaughter, and didn’t see “a lot of content out there created by people who look like her, for her.”
“I feel like we’re not always represented in the best possible way,” Goldberg said.
