PARIS– BET France, the newly-created Gallic channel of the Viacom-owned network, has inked a deal with Tonjé Bakang’s Afrostream, an SVOD service targeting French-speaking auds with African-American, Afro-Caribbean and African series and movies.
BET France, a 24-hour channel and multiscreen service dedicated to Black Culture, will launch on Nov. 17 in France.
The pact will allow Afrostream to showcase the BET France 24-hour live feed, seven-day catch-up of BET original content and a selection of BET France content from the BET France SVOD offering.
“I’m glad to be forging a strategic partnership with Afrostream and its founder, Tonjé Bakang. Our collaboration will enable us to cater to the Black audience in France, which has long been underrepresented on television,” said Michael Armstrong, exec VP and general manager of international brand development for Viacom International Media Networks.
On top of featuring Black content from the U.S., Armstrong said BET France will eventually develop local content.
BET France is also set to collaborate with Afrostream to develop a coordinated pipeline and develop French co-productions. Bakang (pictured above), Afrostream CEO and founder, will serve as an editorial advisor to BET France.
Bakang said the service was looking forward to distributing BET France premium content to a French-speaking audience eager to discover African-American programming.
This strategic distribution pact will also include a promotional plan for Afrostream to be promoted on BET France which will reach an estimated 18 million of households via IPTV, cable and satellite.
The partnership between Afrostream and BET France follows the launch of the “New Faces” contest in France. A BET format, “New Faces” centers around the search for new talent in the markets in which it operates.
