Make way for another new streaming service.
BET Plus, a joint venture between Viacom’s BET Networks and Tyler Perry Studios, will launch domestically on Thursday, Sept. 19. The ad-free subscription video-on-demand service, priced at $9.99 a month, will kick off with more than 1,000 hours of shows, movies and stand-up specials, including content from Tyler Perry, Tracy Oliver, Will Packer and other African American content creators.
“We are thrilled to offer a streaming experience of content curated for the underserved African American audience with BET [Plus],” said BET Networks president Scott Mills. “African Americans have a higher SVOD adoption rate than any other consumer base on the market, which is why BET [Plus] is a natural complement of BET’s linear network, which has been and continues to be the leading home of black culture for decades.”
BET Plus’ general manager Devin Griffin added, via release, that the service will launch a BET Plus original project “almost every month” in its first year.
“We’re focused on super-serving lovers of Black stories by working with top talent, and supporting fresh new voices, on both sides of the camera,” said Griffin.
Of its original content, BET Plus will debut with Tracy Oliver’s “First Wives Club,” starring Jill Scott, Ryan Michelle Bathe and Michelle Buteau, about three best friends who navigate “music superstar Hazel’s tabloid-ridden divorce, campaign manager Ari’s unsatisfying marriage and orthopedic surgeon Bree’s cheating husband.” The service will also feature Will Packer’s half-hour comedy “Bigger,” starring Tanisha Long, Angell Conwell, Rasheda Crockett, Chase Anthony, and Tristen Winger, which “follows a single-black-woman who is dealing with the threat of marriage to a boring-in-bed boyfriend and the sudden, random death of a college acquaintance.”
BET Plus will be the official home of Tyler Perry’s film, TV and stage works, including the “Madea” series, “Meet the Browns,” “Daddy’s Little Girls,” “Temptation: Confessions Of A Marriage Counselor,” and others.
Down the road, the service will also feature stand-up specials from D.L. Hughley, Eddie Griffin, Nick Cannon, “Saturday Night Live” alum Sasheer Zamata, Lil Rel (“Get Out”), Gina Yashere (“The Daily Show,” “Bob Hearts Abishola”), Sinbad and more.
Among the other content available at launch are: “The Bobby Brown Story,” “The New Edition Story,” “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” “The Quad,” “Being Mary Jane,” “Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration, ” “College Hill,” “Comic View,” “Hell Date,” “Keyshia Cole: All In,” “Nellyville” “Reed Between The Lines,” “Ali: People’s Champ,” “Katrina: 10 Years Later,” “Killer Curves,” “BET Awards,” “Hip Hop Awards,” “Soul Train Awards,” “Black Girls Rock,” “Boomerang,” “Harlem Nights,” “Baby Boy,” “Belly,” “Coach Carter,” “Coming To America,” “Higher Learning,” “Losing Isaiah,” “Poetic Justice,” “Tina Turner Live In Holland” and more.
The platform’s library will be bolstered by content from other Viacom networks, including VH1’s “Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta,” “Basketball Wives,” “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle,” Comedy Central’s “Why? With Hannibal Buress”, MTV’s “Todrick,” TV Land’s “Soul Man,” Nick @ Night’s “Instant Mom,” and other shows.
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