With record breaking premieres of original movie "For The Love of Ruth," primetime news special "State of Emergency: Baltimore and Beyond a News One Now Town Hall Meeting," and true crime series "Fatal Attraction," TV One announced today its best May delivery ever in Primetime and Total Day, among its key demos.
Additional highlights from the press release include:
– PRIMETIME: May 2015 vs. May 2014: P25-54 (“people aged 25 to 54″) has grown +35%, and P18-49 (“people aged 18 to 49″) has grown +25%, while Households increased + 26%
– TOTAL DAY: May 2015 vs. May 2014: P25-54 has grown +17%, while P18-49 has grown + 22%, and Households increased +14%
Source: Nielsen.
It’s been a good year for the network thus far; in March, TV One announced that the network was on track to achieve what it called an historic first quarter ratings record this year, for both prime time and total day, thanks to strong reception of original scripted projects in, "Fear Files" and "Hear No Evil," which pulled in a combined 3.3 Million total viewers across their premiere and encore airings.
Both movies aired the weekend of 03/13-03/15.
Also contributing to the network’s Q1 ratings success were the premieres of the 46th NAACP Image Awards, a sneak peek of new summer comedy "Born Again Virgin," the Original Movie "White Water," and returning series "Unsung Hollywood" and "R&B Divas LA."
"Hear No Evil" was the #1 Movie on Cable the weekend it premiered, and the #2 Non-Sports Telecast on TV in its premiere night among Black Adults 25-54 and Black Women 25-54.
– "Hear No Evil" was the most watched TV One original movie premiere of all-time among P25-54, F25-54, Households and Total Viewers.
Noted TV One President Brad Siegel at the time, "While there are three more quarters to play, TV One’s powerful first quarter is yet another example of the strength of our relationship with Black viewers. The strong showing by these films once again confirms the rationale for our strategic and unwavering commitment to regularly airing entertaining original TV movies."
Earlier today, the NAACP and TV One jointly announced that industry veteran producers Reginald Hudlin and Phil Gurin signed a 3-year deal to continue as executive producers for the NAACP Image Awards. The 47th NAACP Image Awards will be nationally telecast live on TV One on Friday, February 5, 2016 as a 2-hour special from the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. The live telecast will also include a one-hour live pre-show from the star-studded red carpet.
TV One is also kicking off this summer with 2 new movies premiering this month.
The first premiering this Saturday, June 6 at 8 p.m. ET is "The Summoning" – a TV One original movie thriller, directed by Charles Murray about a remarried widow, Angela Simmons-Alexander (played by Paula Jai Parker), who summons her first husband (Terrell Tilford) from the dead. Though her new husband Wayne Alexander (Dorian Missick) is everything she could hope for, the passion in her marriage is lukewarm at best. Given an artifact – a spiritual medallion said to awaken the deceased – by a dead friend’s brother, Drew Studdard (Darius McCrary), Angela cannot resist temptation and invokes the magic of the mysterious gift. The reunion with her past love is emotional but turns deadly very quickly as his spirit begins to strengthen and make life-threatening demands, including turning Kendra (Storm Reid), one of their young daughters, against Wayne. With the help of Kiki (Diandra Lyle), a homeless woman Angela hired to run her bar’s kitchen, they plot to send TJ back to the grave.
See Ashlee’s review of "The Summoning" here for a glimpse at what’s coming.
And debuting Saturday, June 27 at 8 p.m. E.T. is the world premiere of "You Got Served" director Chris Stokes’ "Will to Love," a romantic comedy about a workaholic bachelor (Marques Houston) who must find a wife in 90 days in order to inherit his grandfather’s fortune. Jamal Hawkins is a 30-something CEO and heir of the “Let It Roll” toilet paper company, who must find a wife before his grandfather passes away. As a quintessential bachelor, Jamal has no idea how to accomplish such a feat and must do so despite his half-sister Monica’s (Shondrella Avery) meddling. He enlists the help of his secretary, Rachel (Keshia Knight Pulliam) and his best friend Danny (Black Thomas) to find a bride who will obtain his family’s approval and win him his birthright. After devising a plan to audition potential brides and finding Candice (Draya Michele), Jamal develops feelings for Rachel and must make the crucial decision between following the money or his heart. The stellar cast also includes Valarie Pettiford and Gary Sturgis.
"During a month traditionally known for wedding bells, we bring two very different takes on love," said D’Angela Proctor, TV One’s SVP Original Programming and Production. "From learning how to let go and move on, to embracing true love without hesitation, our June movies illustrate the best, the worst, the humor, and ultimately the power of love."
The network It also is adding a new scripted series – "Born Again Virgin," a half-hour romantic comedy scheduled to premiere in July. TV One aired a sneak peek the new series in February of this year.
It’s a planned 30-minute series set in the fast-paced Atlanta, that explores the love lives of three 30-something best friends: Jenna, a vlogger who decides to become celibate after a stream of unsuccessful dates and hook-ups leave her wanting more. She decides to document her newly adapted sex-fast and share the “sexcapades” of her girlfriends – Kelly and Tara. Each week, the ladies will comically work through their friendship, dating woes and career challenges.
Danielle Nicolet, Gabrielle Dennis, and Eva Marcille star as the 3 best friends. And R&B singer Tank plays Donovan.
Time to buy stock in Radio One, parent company of TV One, perhaps. It’s quite cheap right now, at just under $4 per share, so it may be a good time to get in and hold for the long term, especially with increasingly promising results like what we’ve seen this year, so far. You’re welcome!
I really hope this original programming push continues, and especially improves in terms of quality and variety.
The competition for YOUR eyeballs should only intensify in the coming years, especially as BET, and even upstart Bounce TV, as well as all the other non-black TV networks (broadcast and cable) work even harder to give you what you want.