The selection of films on your favorite streaming service is about to get a lot more exciting thanks to a new partnership between Lionsgate and Ebony Media Group, the company behind Ebony magazine.
The new Ebony TV service will have access to Lionsgate’s massive library of movies and shows, featuring some very big names: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Tessa Thompson, Dwayne Johnson and many, many more.
The new channel launches today on Samsung TV Plus and will be available on more of the top streaming services including Amazon’s Freevee, The Roku Channel and Tubi by the end of the month.
Ebony TV is all about FAST shows
The move is the latest expansion of Lionsgate’s FAST (Free Ad-Supported TV) catalogue, which already includes twelve channels, including content from MovieSphere, HerSphere and OuterSphere, as well as more targeted channels such as Ghost Hunters and Nashville.
The partnership with Ebony is important because as Susan Hummel, head of domestic channels at Lionsgate, says, “Ebony is the perfect partner to help our extensive library reach audiences previously underserved in the FAST space.” Ebony is also home to the Ebony Power 100 Gala, an annual celebration of the most influential African American people in the arts, business, politics, technology, medicine and science.
According to Varietyincludes some of the initial programming you can expect The great debatersstarring Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker; Stealwith Dwayne Johnson; Dear white peoplestarring Tessa Thompson; If Beale Street could talk; Tyler Perrys I can only do it badly; And Jackie Brown, starring Pam Grier. The channel will also show programs such as Are we there yet? And Kevin Hart: What’s the fit.
Expect more partnerships like this: FAST is a very fast-growing and incredibly competitive industry sector, and the companies involved are still vying for position in the hopes of becoming the ad-supported equivalent of Netflix – something the ad-supported Netflix level is would also like to be there.