Reality Beat: ‘RHODurban’ Season Four To Return, The Velveteen Dream Issued Apology Video
TV One - Urban One
Docuseries: TV One, an African American-targeted network, is launching a free, ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel featuring true crime and justice series in the hope of reaching more underserved Black viewers. As noted by Horowitz Research, 45% of Black viewers said they would watch shows on at least one FAST channel every month, compared to one-third of consumers in the whole market. Fatal Attraction, Atlanta Homicide, Sins of the City, and more hits from TV One will be available on this new channel.
“We have some franchises that are extremely popular with the TV One audience, and luckily, we're now at a point where we can make that available to people who are outside the pay ecosystem without cannibalizing the [linear] business,” said Rori Peters, Senior Vice President of content distribution and marketing for TV One and Cleo TV.
On January 3rd, M-Net Africa premiered its new reality TV series Unscripted on the African Magic Channel’s MultiChoice's DStv, taking the form of a reunion. Its stars include Bobby Ekpe, Wumi Tuase, Obehi Aburime, Ajayi Akorede (aka the Korexx), Debby Felix, Eby Eno, Nonso Bassey, Austine Onuoha, Martha Ehinome, Shalewa Ashafa, and more.
"We can't wait for our dedicated customers to see the new shows because they will be entertained by the stellar cast and excellent storytelling," said Busola Tejumola, MultiChoice Nigeria's executive head of content and West Africa channels.
Sony
Docusoap: On January 9th, OWN’s Love & Marriage: Huntsville star Martell Holt was arrested on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, according to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office in Alabama. As the network’s most popular non-sports series targeting key Black audiences, the reality TV series follows the lives of three prominent Black couples; they are old friends running a real estate business together. While Holt appeared in all six seasons of the Huntsville series alongside Melody Holt, who he has since divorced, he also starred on the latest season of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Atlanta and dated Shereé Whitfield. Online records show that Holt was in jail for third degree domestic violence and harassing communications in the afternoon, released about three hours later.
CBC’s unscripted Paranormal comedy series Ghosting with Luke Hutchie and Matthew Finlan announced its list of guests. It includes Yellowjackets star Kevin Alves, Ginny & Georgia star Katie Douglas, Scream IV star Devyn Nekoda, Robyn Hood star Bukola Ayoka, Riverdale star Zoé De Grand Maison, and Shadow Hunters star Jade Hassouné. Additionally, Big Brother (UK) star Frankie Grande and husband Hale Leon, as well as Canada’s Drag Race competitor Synthia Kiss will appear in this series. Debuting on January 26th on streamer CBC Gem, the show will follow Hutchie and Finlan as they discover supposedly supernatural and haunted places in Canada.
This year, Indian streamer SonyLIV is expanding its content focus to youth and Indian family stories, appealing to the growing esports community with tournaments. It also hopes to capture a larger market share in the U.S. and U.K. by launching more business-to-consumer (B2C) products. On top of that, more than 20 new and returning unscripted shows will be available on SonyLIV in languages beyond Hindi, such as Telugu, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, and Marathi. MasterChef India will soon premiere in Tamil and Telugu, as well as season three of Shark Tank India, and Quizzer of the Year.
“We wanted to go with a very robust multi-language content lineup,” said Danish Khan, executive VP and business head of SonyLIV and StudioNext at Sony Pictures Networks India.
Showmax announced the return of The Real Housewives of Durban season four, which will premiere on February 9th. This latest season’s debut makes Showmax Original’s edition the longest-running The Real Housewives series in Africa.
“The new season of The Real Housewives of Durban is going to be bigger and better. We have the OGs you have come to know and love and we have three new women who are going to bring something different to the franchise. Over the past seasons, we have been aiming to tell stories that audiences relate to. The essence of the show is real and that is why viewers fall in love with these women, because they can see themselves in their personal stories, journeys, triumphs and struggles,” said Sam Kelly, executive producer at Let It Rain Films.
Recently, AMC’s unscripted television WE tv decided to launch a new reality series, The Barnes Bunch. Starring NBA Champion Matt Barnes, his model fiancée Anansa Sims, and their children, the series is set to debut next year. The show will exclusively air on WE tv and sister streamer ALLBLK.
“We’re excited to give people an inside look at our big, beautiful, crazy, blended family. Stay tuned,” said Barnes and Sims.
Love Island All Stars
Game Shows: Love Island All Stars 2024 debuts on ITV1, ITV2, STV, and ITVX on January 15th, with 12 contestants returning, including Jake Cornish, Luis Morrison, and Toby Aromolaran.
National football league
Competitive Series: In the first week of January, wrestler Patrick Clark (The Velveteen Dream) officially acknowledged his past mistakes, posting an apology video on Instagram to WWE, fans, friends, and family. Back in December of 2020, he was involved in an array of controversial issues, such as inappropriate contact with minors, backstage heat with several people in NXT, misdemeanor, battery, and trespassing charges, possession of drug paraphernalia, illegal filming of fellow wrestlers in the bathroom, reckless conduct during a match, and wellness violations.
“As you’ve probably seen or heard over the course of the last few years. I want to apologize for my behavior, both professionally and personally. I always preach to those closest to me about the power of accountability and responsibility, and I take full accountability for my behavior over the last three years of my life,” Clark said in the video.
During a Q&A session on social media, WWE SuperStar Bianca Belair said she would be willing to join Bobby Lashley’s heel faction with The Street Profits, of which her husband Montez Ford is a member.
AEW-signed wrestler Kota Ibushi announced on social media that he would undergo surgery after injuring his ankle in a single match against Naomichi Marufuji in Pro Wrestling NOAH, which kicked off earlier this month.
“Sorry for the late contact. I'm sure Mr. NOAH will give you more details, but I would like to inform you that the inside of my left ankle was quite a mess, so I decided to have surgery on the right ligament. I think there will be a release soon. I'm really, really sorry,” he wrote, according to a Google translation of his post.
Notably, former WWE star Mercedes Mone will likely make her AEW debut for her return; this is according to Dave Meltzer, who spoke on Wrestling Observer radio. Previously, the deal negotiations reportedly failed because of the divergence of money.
“Well, the belief is that she’s imminent. The expectation is that it's imminent. Until it happens and I hear that the contract is actually signed, I don't take anything seriously because it's been a year of rumors and thoughts, and nothing happened. Obviously, she's been talking. Yes, obviously [delayed because of her injury]. Yeah, but it was months before she had the injury," said Meltzer.
Lastly, in sports, the National Football League (NFL) is reportedly in advanced talks with ESPN's parent company, The Walt Disney Company, to buy an equity stake from the cable sports network; this would allow the NFL to reach viewers more directly. Under the first-ever NFL and ESPN alliance, ESPN would take over operational control of NFL Media, which reportedly controlled 93 of the top 100 program events on TV last year.
