Fuse Media, the Latino-owned entertainment company, said it is launching Fuse Beat, a Black-culture focused streaming channel, with Quincy Newell’s Twentyone14 Media and Cinedigm.
Fuse Beat is designed to provide a diverse and inclusive portrayal of the world with a curated selection of movies, fan favorite series, award-winning docs, music and comedy performances, the companies said.
It will be available first later this month on Fuse.tv. The company expects to announce distribution deals with third-party streaming platforms in the coming weeks.
For Fuse Media, Fuse Beat is the third channel it has launched this year, following Fuse Backstage and Fuse Sweat in March.
“As we continue to build our streaming portfolio, we are thrilled to be debuting Fuse Beat with such impressive partners in Cinedigm and Quincy Newell, and with a lineup of premium series, movies and docs that feature authentic and entertaining storytelling,” said Fuse head of digital Patrick Courtney.
Twentyone14 produces and distributes digital content and distribution company that connects creatives of colors with specialized audiences that is led by Quincy Newell.
“Our mission was to develop a product that authentically represents the multi-dimensional nature of the black experience. I’m excited to have found a partner in Fuse Media that embraced this vision and the need to create vehicles that represent the culture and all of its diversity,” said Newell.
Twentyone14 and Cinedigm last year announced plans to start a multicultural streaming network in the first quarter.
Fuse Beat programming will include series Partners starring Martin Lawrence; Women of Brewster Place with Oprah Winfrey, 1-800-Missing and film Dear White People.
It will also have original Fuse series including T-Pain’s School of Business, Hop-Hop Houdini with Tomas D. De la Cruz and Ready or Not, the story of 17-year-old Marcel McClinton.
In May and June Fuse Beat will also feature titles including: Good Hair, In the Mix, Premium, Never 2 Big, Caught Up, Held Up, Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Brooklyn Babylon, Full Clip, Leprechaun V: In the Hood, Leprechaun VI: Back 2 Tha Hood, State Property, Champs, Traitor, Like Water, Thunder Soul and More Than a Game.
