April 20
TV One
With the promise to “REPRESENT the many facets of Black Culture past, present and future,” TV One offered a more focused slate of programming during its Upfront presentation this year. “Our goal is to provide our discerning audience of information-conscious influencers with more of what they are looking for in original films, family reality, true crime and justice content,” said Brad Siegel, TV One’s president. “This will offer advertisers more opportunities to be seen in the positive environment of our popular, quality appointment television offerings.”
Live morning news content will expand to 3 hours, with News One Now growing to 2 hours, from 7a-9a. Later this year, the show will undergo a name and format change, as Black America Today, with Roland S. Martin remaining at the helm as host. Hour 3 will include a live, multi-platform daily talk show hosted by a panel of 4 women.
TV One’s True Crime & Justice programming will get a second night starting in August, anchored by season 3 of For My Man. Limited series Two Sides of the Truth will focus on high profile cases that have been watershed moments for the Black community, and Evidence of Innocence, currently in production and slated to premiere in 2018, will profile the stories of individuals convicted of crimes they didn’t commit. Unscripted Hotlanta will follow homicide detectives on the gritty streets of Atlanta.
Scripted series and heartfelt family reality shows remain on the schedule, including The Manns, which premiered in early April, and Rickey Smiley For Real, which returns for a fourth season in July 2017.
“TV One will continue to make programming that celebrates and builds up family, recognizing that no two families are alike,” said Siegel. “The Manns and Rickey Smiley For Real are great complements to one another as well as reinforce our goal to produce programming that incorporates family, faith and fun.”
Original movies include three inspired by musical artists: Who Can I Run To: The Xscape Story, All This Love: The DeBarge Family Story, and Bobbi Kristina, about the late daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown. Downsized, written by a finalist in the TV One/American Black Film Festival Screenwriting Competition, depicts a suburban couple who become teenaged parents.
