From NewsBlues:
SSN Television (formerly Soul of the South Television) is finally getting its much-delayed national news operation off the ground. The black-centric network has signed a deal with ARISE News to co-brand and distribute 5½ hours of news programming per day under the banner SSN/ARISE News. It will launch Oct. 27.
From Richard Prince’s Journal-isms:
2 Black Networks Partner for 5½ Hours of News Daily
SSN TV, also known as Soul of the South, and ARISE TV have signed a content agreement that will provide for 5½ hours of co-branded news programs daily, the networks announced on Monday. Last week, SSN announced it had gained distribution in nine of the top 10 African American designated market areas, known as DMAs.
The five shows are all hosted by black women. Beginning Oct. 27, SSN and ARISE News programs will air on this schedule:
SSN/ARISE AMERICA, weekdays, 6 p.m. Eastern, 5 p.m. Central; “D.C. Breakdown,” weekdays, 7 p.m. Eastern, 6 p.m. Central; “SSN Evening News,” weekdays, 8 p.m. Eastern, 7 p.m. Central; “Arise News Now,” weekdays 1 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Eastern, midnight Central; “Arise Review,” Sundays noon to 1 p.m. Eastern, 1 p.m. Central.
From ScreenAfrica:
Soul of the South Network – launched in May 2013 – has signed a content distribution agreement with Arise TV. The agreement states that Arise TV will supply five and a half hours of co-branded daily news to the network.
Soul of the South Network operates TV stations and provides programming for more than two-dozen affiliates aimed at African-Americans. Most of the stations operated by Soul of the South are in the southern United States and in large northern cities with a significant African-American population.
On 29 September, Soul of the South announced that it had added WMDE in Washington, D.C. as its latest affiliate, beginning 1 October 2014.
Arise TV has offices in London, New York, Johannesburg and Lagos, and is an emerging 24-hour news and entertainment channel aimed at promoting all that is African and Afropolitan across all continents.
According to The Hollywood Reporter Doug McHenry, CEO of Soul of the South commented, “This deal further solidifies our commitment to news and information programming…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 US 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.
From Jack Weatherly at arkansasonline.com:
Soul of the South expands news lineup
Little Rock-based Soul of the South Network has signed a content agreement with Arise TV to provide 5 1/2 hours of weekday news programming targeting black viewers starting Oct. 27.
Soul of the South news director Tom Jacobs said Wednesday that the agreement “puts us where we wanted to be a lot faster than I had expected.”
Chief Executive Officer Doug McHenry said in a news release that the agreement gives Soul of the South a “diverse lineup of programming,” both original and in syndication.
Arise has offices in London, New York, Johannesburg, and Lagos, Nigeria.
Arise Chairman Nduka Obaigbena said in the news release that “this deal advances our presence in the all-important U.S. broadcast market, while giving SSN viewers a … global perspective.”
Soul of the South in conjunction with Arise will provide a one-hour news program starting at 5 p.m., followed by Soul of the South’s D.C. Breakdown at 6 p.m. and Evening News starting at 7 p.m. from its studios at 1 Shackleford Drive. Those telecasts will be repeated at 11 p.m and midnight, followed by Arise News Now, a 30-minute recap of world events.
Soul of the South is in more than 20 metropolitan markets, either as a “diginet,” received on “digital rabbit ears,” or cable. It reaches 40 million households as a diginet and 8 million on cable, Jacobs said. In Little Rock, it is carried on KKYK subchannel 30.1. Diginets are subchannels of full-power stations.
In an August interview, Jacobs said Soul of the South employed 30 to 40 people, most of whom are in Little Rock.
The network received a $500,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, promising to employ 174 by April 2021. There is a provision that requires the network to pay back a certain part of the grant if it does not reach that level.
Jacobs said the employment level is now about 50, boosted by the relocation of a subsidiary, Media Gateway, which moved its operations from Davenport, Iowa, to Little Rock. Media Gateway provides technological and production support.