Tyler Perry made like Oprah and decided he’ll launch his own cable network too! Lionsgate, the production company behind his Madea movies, will launch a cable channel with Perry, who has already found small-screen success with his TBS comedies including “House of Payne” and “Meet the Browns.”
The partners will initially stock the channel with reruns of Perry’s sitcoms and movies, including the popular Madea series, in which he appears in drag as the title character, a gun-toting grandmother. They also plan to buy third-party content that meshes with Perry’s Christianity-tinged brand.
Tyler TV, which is still a working title, is intended as a home base for Perry — just as Oprah, one of Perry’s biggest supporters, now operates OWN. But as OWN demonstrates, cable plans that seem promising can be tricky. Oprah’s channel, a partnership withDiscovery Communications, has been a major ratings disappointment.
Here’s the breakdown, Lionsgate and Perry are exploring three routes for distribution. One involves rebranding all or part of the TVGuide Network, which is available to about 80 million homes. Lionsgate owns 50% of that channel; One Equity Partners controls the rest.
Lionsgate and Perry could also buy a small cable channel that has a complementary audience — the Gospel Broadcasting Network comes to mind — and move to rebrand and expand it. Another option involves Comcast, which extracted approval from government regulators for its recent takeover of NBC Universal by committing to provide more minority-run programming.
Is this a good move for Tyler Perry?
Would you watch his channel?
Source: BlackMediaScoop.com
