A major conglomerate is assisting Black media thanks to the work of a Black initiative.
NBCUniversal is helping bring an array of viewers and advertising under its media tent, partnering with Group Black, which is a collective that aims to spur the development of Black-owned and Back-produced media, according to Variety.
It will “curate programming and develop new original content for a new hub on NBCU’s Peacock streaming service, known as E!+.” Currently, NBCU operates a popular cable network titled E!, but the two entities will not be managed in tandem.
Instead of focusing on celebrity news and reality programs, E!+ will offer a variety of new original content produced by Group Black, along with selections from the NBCU library. Additionally, Group Black will handle the sale of commercial inventory to advertisers.
The new hub will launch later this year.
“This is an open call, in a way, for amazing content and storytelling that exists and can’t find a home in the general market,” said Cavel Khan, Group Black’s chief growth officer, in an interview. “Advertisers are recognizing that their growth is coming from this multicultural audience and they need to have more reach and resonance with that audience.”
Khan “will oversee E!+ along with Peter Blacker, executive vice president of streaming and data products and head of diversity, equity and inclusion for NBCU’s advertising and partnerships division.”
This is the most recent development to create media outlets that speak to the nation’s increasingly diverse audiences. While most advertisers are still looking to reach substantial crowds through TV and other venues, digital media allows access to aim more precisely at specific demographics, as advertisers are growing more interested in reaching smaller groups of people to buy goods and services.
There are hopes that such developments will initiate Madison Avenue to support minority-owned or minority-run media ventures that have been denied the millions in advertising that flow to the mainstream conglomerates.
Disney is making efforts to engage diverse audiences. In 2021, the entertainment giant launched Onyx Collective, a content brand primarily hosted on Hulu. This initiative aims to highlight and celebrate stories from creators of color and other underrepresented groups.
