Little Rock-based Soul of the South Network has signed a content agreement with Arise TV to provide 5 1/2 hours of weekday news programming targeting black viewers starting Oct. 27.
Soul of the South news director Tom Jacobs said Wednesday that the agreement "puts us where we wanted to be a lot faster than I had expected."
Chief Executive Officer Doug McHenry said in a news release that the agreement gives Soul of the South a "diverse lineup of programming," both original and in syndication.
Arise has offices in London, New York, Johannesburg, and Lagos, Nigeria.
Arise Chairman Nduka Obaigbena said in the news release that "this deal advances our presence in the all-important U.S. broadcast market, while giving SSN viewers a ... global perspective."
Soul of the South in conjunction with Arise will provide a one-hour news program starting at 5 p.m., followed by Soul of the South's D.C. Breakdown at 6 p.m. and Evening News starting at 7 p.m. from its studios at 1 Shackleford Drive. Those telecasts will be repeated at 11 p.m and midnight, followed by Arise News Now, a 30-minute recap of world events.
Soul of the South is in more than 20 metropolitan markets, either as a "diginet," received on "digital rabbit ears," or cable. It reaches 40 million households as a diginet and 8 million on cable, Jacobs said. In Little Rock, it is carried on KKYK subchannel 30.1. Diginets are subchannels of full-power stations.
In an August interview, Jacobs said Soul of the South employed 30 to 40 people, most of whom are in Little Rock.
The network received a $500,000 grant from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, promising to employ 174 by April 2021. There is a provision that requires the network to pay back a certain part of the grant if it does not reach that level.
Jacobs said the employment level is now about 50, boosted by the relocation of a subsidiary, Media Gateway, which moved its operations from Davenport, Iowa, to Little Rock. Media Gateway provides technological and production support.
Business on 10/09/2014