Bounce TV

Bounce TV is an American digital multicast television network owned by Katz Broadcasting, a subsidiary of E. W. Scripps Company. Promoted as "the first 24/7 digital multicast broadcast network created to target African Americans", the channel features a mix of original and acquired programming geared toward African Americans between 29 and 50 years of age. The network is network affiliate with terrestrial television and television station in many media markets through digital subchannel; it is also available on the digital cable tiers of select cable providers at the discretion of local affiliates.

Bounce TV
Type
Country
United States
Availability
FoundedApril 4, 2011 (2011-04-04)
by Martin Luther King III and Andrew Young
SloganYou Belong Here
HeadquartersAtlanta, Georgia
OwnerKatz Broadcasting, LLC
(E. W. Scripps Company)
ParentBounce Media, LLC
Key people
  • Ryan Glover (president)
  • Jonathan Katz (COO)
Launch date
September 26, 2011 (2011-09-26)
Picture format
AffiliatesList of affiliates
Official website
www.bouncetv.com

History

The network was founded on April 5, 2011. The founding group and initial ownership team included Martin Luther King III; former mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and ambassador of the United States to the United Nations Andrew Young and his son Andrew "Bo" Young III; and Rob Hardy and Will Packer, co-founders of Rainforest Films, a top African-American production company.[2] Spearheading the network's creation were former Turner Broadcasting System executives Jonathan Katz and Ryan Glover with the pair having previously worked together with Tyler Perry to produce a number of high-order African-American sitcoms for TBS.[3] Currently, Glover is president of Bounce TV and Katz is Chief Operating Officer. The "Bounce TV" name was chosen as a branding avenue to signify that the network is "going somewhere with energy".[4]

The network formally launched on September 26, 2011 at 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time Zone, with the 1978 musical film The Wiz as its inaugural broadcast followed by A Raisin in the Sun with Do the Right Thing in primetime.[2] The movie in primetime on the second day was Spike Lee's School Daze. This would be followed two days later with its first sports broadcast, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association football.[5]

The network added its first acquired sitcoms in January 2015, when it acquired the rights to four series.[6] On Friday, January 29, 2016, Bounce broadcast the 24th Annual Trumpet Awards, which honored history-making individuals.[7] The network started producing its first primetime news magazine, Ed Gordon, in late June 2016 for a Tuesday, September 13, 2016 premiere.[8]

On October 2, 2017, E. W. Scripps Company purchased Bounce TV along with Katz Broadcasting's three other networks.[9][10][11] A list of 2019 Nielsen Media Research ratings published by Variety indicated that Bounce averaged 275,000 viewers in prime time, down 1% from the 2018 average.[12]

Programming

Bounce TV features programming geared toward an African American audience that skews older than the demographic that its cable competitor BET primarily targets (adults between the ages of 25 and 54, compared to BET's target demographic of youths and adults ages 12 to 34).[2] Bounce TV's programming primarily features a mix of acquired series and feature films. The network added its first acquired sitcoms in January 2015, when it acquired the rights to four series through deals with Warner Bros. Television Studios, The Carsey–Warner Company, CBS Television Distribution/Big Ticket Entertainment (Judge Joe Brown), 20th Television (The Parent 'Hood, Roc, A Different World, and The Hughleys) and Trifecta Entertainment & Media (Judge Faith).[6] The 1990s CBS series Cosby was immediately removed from Bounce's schedule on July 7, 2015 after Bill Cosby's past admissions about his sexual assault allegations were publicized.[13]

Unlike most digital multicast services (particularly with the January 2015 shutdown of Localish, which mainly carried first-run content), Bounce TV also carries original programming. The network added originally-produced inspirational and music programming, documentaries, and specials to its lineup in 2012, beginning with the broadcast television premiere of the documentary Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: A Historical Perspective on January 16, 2012, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.[14] Bounce TV's first original weekly series debuted on June 18, 2012, with the series premieres of the sitcom Family Time and the stand-up comedy series Uptown Comic.[15]

In addition, shortly before its launch, Bounce TV reached an agreement with the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (a league that includes several historically black colleges and universities) to acquire the television rights to broadcast its American football and basketball games; the telecasts were produced by Urban Sports Entertainment Group. The first sports broadcast on Bounce TV aired on September 28, 2011, a college football game between Bowie State University and Virginia Union University.[2] Bounce's HBCU-centered sports programming expanded in 2013 to include games from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Sports programming on the network ceased prior to the 2014 season (with Aspire acquiring the rights to some of the HBCU football telecasts).[16]

On May 7, 2015, Bounce TV announced that they would be airing live boxing events from Premier Boxing Champions under the title: PBC: The Next Round.[17]

On March 6, 2016, the debut of the primetime soap Saints & Sinners took in 1.3 million viewers, making it Bounce TV's most-watched program to date.[18]

Current programming

Original

  • Ed Gordon (News) After its Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016 premiere on Bounce, 30 affiliates ran the premiere episode on their primary subchannel the next week.[19]
  • Off the Chain[20]2
  • Saints & Sinners (Drama)[20]2

Sitcoms

Syndicated

Upcoming programming
  • Johnson (Second Quarter 2021)[24]
  • Secrets of the Salon (Third Quarter 2021)[24]

Affiliates
Main article: List of Bounce TV affiliates

As of December 2014, Bounce TV has current or pending affiliation agreements with television stations in 43 media markets encompassing 22 states and the Washington, D.C., covering 73% of all households of at least one television set in the United States and 90% of African-American households.[6] The network encourages its affiliates to carry local news programming in place of regular programming on the Bounce-affiliated subchannel, as a way to attract additional viewers to that subchannel and serve the local market. Affiliates also broadcast local public affairs programs, political specials, and college football and basketball games played by predominantly black schools.[25]

Before its launch, Bounce TV actively sought affiliation agreements with various television station owners to make the network widely available throughout the United States. The network launched with clearance rate of, at minimum, 32% of overall American television households, in part due to affiliation agreements with stations owned by Raycom Media, LIN Media, and Nexstar Broadcasting Group.[26][27]

In November 2011, Bounce TV reached a groupwide affiliation deal with Fox Television Stations to carry the network on the subchannels of its MyNetworkTV owned-and-operated station in markets such as New York City (WWOR-TV) and Los Angeles (KCOP-TV).[28] The deal, which marked Fox Television Station's first multicasting arrangement, put Bounce TV over its earlier stated goal of reaching at least 50% of overall U.S. television households.[4][28]

In December 2012, the network signed a multi-station agreement with Spanish language broadcaster Univision Communications to carry its programming on seven of its Univision and UniMas owned-and-operated television stations (besides being the company's first multicasting agreement, it was also Univision Television Group's first affiliation deal involving an English language network).[29] As part of an extension of this agreement in March 2014, Bounce TV will move its affiliation in five markets where it had existing affiliation deals with Fox at the time of the deal (New York City, Los Angeles, Dallas–Fort Worth, Texas, Orlando, Florida, and Phoenix, Arizona) to stations owned by Univision in 2015.[30]

On June 15, 2016, Katz Broadcasting (whose president and CEO Jonathan Katz is COO of Bounce TV) signed an agreement with Nexstar Broadcasting Group that would bring Bounce TV to 15 new markets, as part of a massive rollout also involving Katz's three networks Court TV Mystery, Laff, and Grit.[31] In 2019, Raycom merged with Gray Television, which will maintain their Bounce affiliations as-is.

Bounce Media
Bounce Media, LLC
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedApril 4, 2011 (2011-04-04)
FoundersMartin Luther King III
Andrew Young
Headquarters
Marietta, Georgia
,
U.S.
ParentKatz Broadcasting, LLC
(E. W. Scripps Company)[32]

Bounce Media operates Bounce TV and is owned by its founding group plus Gray Television and Al Haymon. With share staff and some owners, Katz Broadcasting is an affiliate company.[20]1

Originally, Bounce Media sold the network to affiliated TV stations via ad split but by October 2015 had moved to a carriage fee in exchange for the network get the ad inventory due to greater inventory with stations adding a third or fourth subchannel.[20]1 Bounce used direct response advertising as a meter of viewers before switching to Nielsen rating C-3 a few years before 2015.[20]3

Bounce launched a companion SVOD service, Brown Sugar by November 17, 2016. Brown Sugar features '70s-era blaxploitation films. The service has access to start to a total of 111 films including Blacula, Cleopatra Jones, Foxy Brown, The Mack, Super Fly, and Shaft.[33]

On August 1, 2017, E. W. Scripps announced the purchase of Bounce and Katz Broadcasting, which operates Bounce and owns three networks, for $292 million, acquiring the other 95% of the company. Bounce will remain based out of Marietta, Georgia and retain Jonathan Katz as head.[32] The purchase was completed on October 2, 2017.[34]

Brown Sugar
Brown Sugar
Type of site
SVOD
Available inen
OwnerBounce Media, LLC
URLwww.brownsugar.com
CommercialYes
RegistrationYes
Launched2016 (2016)
Current statusactive

Brown Sugar is a video on demand service owned by Bounce Media, LLC. A companion to the main Bounce network, Brown Sugar was launched on November 17, 2016.

The service features '70s-era blaxploitation films via app, the web[33] and Chromecast.[35] The service has access to over 111 films including Blacula, Cleopatra Jones, Foxy Brown, The Mack, Super Fly, and Shaft.[33] On Friday August 4, 2017, Brown Sugar launched on Roku; boxing matches and in-season original Bounce series have since been added.[35]

See also
  • BET – an American basic cable and satellite channel a part of the ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks, currently owned by ViacomCBS, which launched in 1980 as the first television network devoted to programming targeting African-Americans
    • BET Her – spinoff network specifically targeting African-American women
  • TV One – an American digital cable and satellite channel owned by Urban One
    • Cleo TV – spinoff network specifically targeting African-American women
  • Aspire – an American digital cable and satellite channel owned by Magic Johnson

References
  1. Buckman, Adam (July 26, 2016). "Diginets Keep Growing, Despite Auction Cloud". TV News Check. Retrieved November 7, 2016.
  2. Molloy, Tim (September 25, 2011). "Black-Oriented Bounce TV Begins, Betting on Classic Movies". The Wrap. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  3. Lafayette, Jon (August 11, 2014). "Katz Shows True Grit Building Multicast Empire". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  4. Jessell, Harry (May 10, 2011). "Bounce Set To Jump Into the Multicast Game". TV News Check. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  5. Lafayette, Jon (August 24, 2011). "EXCLUSIVE: 'The Wiz' Will Lead Off Bounce TV Programming". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 5, 2011.
  6. Jon Lafayette (December 16, 2014). "Bounce TV Acquires First Four Off-Net Series". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved December 27, 2014. Bounce TV is available in 73% of the U.S. and 90% of African American homes.
  7. "Bounce TV To Air Trumpet Awards". TVNewsCheck.com. January 28, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  8. "Bounce TV's First News Mag To Debut Sept. 13". TVNewsCheck. June 29, 2016. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  9. Marszalek, Diana (August 1, 2017). "E.W. Scripps Buys Katz Networks in $302M Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  10. Miller, Mark K. (October 2, 2017). "E.W. Scripps Closes $302M Katz Purchase". TVNewsCheck.com. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  11. "The E.W. Scripps Company (SSP)". SeekingAlpha.com. August 8, 2017. Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  12. Schneider, Michael (26 Dec 2019). "Most-Watched Television Networks: Ranking 2019's Winners and Losers". Variety. Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  13. Steiner, Amanda Michelle (July 7, 2015). "Bill Cosby reruns pulled from BET's Centric, Bounce TV". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  14. "Bounce TV Airing Martin Luther King Documentary". TV News Check. January 11, 2012.
  15. "Bounce TV To Premiere First Two Original Series". TV News Check. June 14, 2012.
  16. Umstead, R. Thomas (September 3, 2014). "Aspire To Air Live HBCU College Football Games". Multichannel News. Retrieved December 4, 2015.
  17. "Bounce TV Unveils 2015-16 Upfront Programming Slate". Bounce TV. May 7, 2015. Retrieved August 3, 2015.
  18. Petski, Denise (March 9, 2016). "'Saints & Sinners' Premiere Breaks Ratings Record For Bounce TV". Deadline Hollywood.
  19. Miller, Mark K. (September 21, 2016). "Bounce Affils Slot 'Ed Gordon' On Primary Channels". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  20. Jessell, Harry A. (October 13, 2015). "OTA The Bedrock of Katz's Growing Diginets". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved October 15, 2015.
  21. "Bounce Announces New Comedy Series Grown Folks, Renews Saints & Sinners, Family Time, In The Cut". PR Newswire. August 3, 2017.
  22. Willis, Kiersten (December 18, 2018). "Exclusive: Charles Malik Whitfield Dishes on New Role in 'Last Call,' Bounce's New Sitcom Thats Considered a Black 'Cheers'". Atlanta Black Star. Retrieved January 7, 2019.
  23. Evans, Greg (February 15, 2018). "Bounce Plans Weeknight Airings Of 'The Wendy Williams Show'". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 15, 2018.
  24. "Bounce Announces 2020-21 Slate of Bold New Originals from Top Names in Entertainment". The Futon Critic. August 11, 2020.
  25. Diana Marszalek (July 23, 2013). "News Finds A New Home Among Diginets". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved August 16, 2014.
  26. Mark Miller (May 23, 2011). "LIN Deal Means More Markets for Bounce TV". TVNewsCheck. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  27. Jon Lafayette (June 6, 2011). "Bounce Gets Boost From Nexstar Stations". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  28. "Bounce TV Lands on Fox MNT in NYC, LA". TV News Check. November 3, 2011. Retrieved September 30, 2014.
  29. Goldsmith, Jill (December 10, 2012). "Univision pacts with BounceTV". Variety. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  30. Lafayette, Jon (March 4, 2014). "Exclusive: Bounce TV Extends Univision Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  31. Jon Lafayette (June 15, 2016). "Bounce TV, Grit, Escape, Laff Multicast Deal Covers 81 Stations, 54 Markets". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved June 20, 2016.
  32. Marszalek, Diana (August 1, 2017). "E.W. Scripps Buys Katz Networks in $302M Deal". Broadcasting & Cable. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  33. Spangler, Todd (November 17, 2016). "'Like Netflix, Only Blacker': Brown Sugar Blaxploitation-Movie Subscription VOD Service Launches". Variety. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  34. Miller, Mark K. (October 2, 2017). "E.W. Scripps Closes $302M Katz Purchase". TVNewsCheck.com. Retrieved November 7, 2017.
  35. Roettgers, Janko (August 4, 2017). "Brown Sugar Streaming Service Launches on Roku (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved December 11, 2018.
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