Black French celebrities attend Trace TV event

Photo and copyright: Régis Durand de Girard
The French urban media organisation Trace has moved to a new location in Paris. On July 8th Trace celebrated the event by throwing a party for French urban celebs and media officials. Almost 300 people attended the event. The French blog Fxgpariscaraibe made full a photo report of the day. For the photos click here. (On the photo: Vicelow de Saïan from the Supa Crew and Virginie Koné from Trace.)

But what is Trace? Trace is the biggest French urban music and culture channel in the French speaking world. Launched in 2003, TRACE is available in over 1OO countries through digital TV, radio, magazine, web and mobile. But unlike it’s American rival MTV, Trace TV also airs European and afro Afro-Caribbean artists. With eight million subscribers it has become the third French channel behind TV5 and Euronews.

But its success didn’t start in France. Finance for a multicultural urban music channel was hard to find in a country where a black news anchor was seen as revolution. It was the prestigious American investment bank Goldman Sachs who first saw the potential and injected 6 million dollar in the concept.

Trace TV is a black success story. Trace is owned by Claude Grunitzky, Olivier Laouchez and Richard Wayner along with Goldman Sachs Group and other private investors.

Olivier Laouchez , who is born in Martinique, is now the CEO of Trace television. He is the only Black to head of a French television channel. Claude Grunitzky, born in Togo, is the editor in chief of Trace magazine. And Richard Wayner was one of the first members of the new Urban Investment Group of Goldman Sachs. The group was established to focus on investing in urban venture capital and real estate with a specific focus on minority and female entrepreneurs.

www.mytrace.tv
Photo report of Trace event

More black UK TV on the internet

Colourtelly is Britain's first black-interest television network providing several channels of drama, documentaries, music shows, children's prgrammes and news. It's on 24 hours a day on www.colourtelly.tv. Founded by the legendary great Black Briton Carroll Thompson in the summer of 2007 it now has viewers in every corner of the Uk and in many other parts of the world also.

Read: Coloutelly.tv the Guardian

Black Television in Europe

Now that US entertainment network BET is broadcasting in Europe, it's time to look at black TV in Europe. A fast video overview.

In Europe Black TV reflects the differences between the communities. In France Afro-Caribbean Aka TV broadcasts professional web TV. In the UK the Ghanaian OBE TV broadcasts African programs and black European programs on Satellite. In the Netherlands SME TV broadcasts news and interviews on the public city TV network. And in Germany Cybernomads does event reporting via YouTube. On national TV in the UK and the Netherlands there have been black drama series, but nowadays the lack of diversity on UK and Dutch TV is epidemic.

UK

OBE TV

OBE TV (Original Black Entertainment Television, a wholly Ghanaian-owned London-based Television company, is a television channel launched in September 2004. OBE TV is broadcasting via the SKY Digital Platform.

Programming
It shows film, food, advertisements, sports and talk shows as well as church service programmes. The channel is aimed at black audiences, and shows programmes from South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana. Although the shows are targeted at viewers who are interested in African programs, the network also has the UK show ‘The Platform’

Video - Upcoming drama series on OBE TV to find actors and actress in a new reality TV program.




Global Faction

Global Faction is a video production company. The company produces video on social issues within the black community in the UK, which are shown on YouTube.

Video - Young People from Tulse Hill, Lambeth speak about their needs, hopes and dreams. Global faction on YouTube


BBC

Read:
The lenny Henry show
Lenny Henry: Where are all the black new faces?


FRANCE

Aka-a TV

Aka-a TV is Afro-Caribbean web TV. It’s connected with the Aka-a etno-marketing bureau.


Programming
News, sitcoms, interview and lifestyle programs. Aka-a TV works with Kalihnas Productions, which produces: Le Tcip show, the first Afro-French sitcom. K-Dam, a fashion and a beauty program and several other programs.

Video - Le Tchip show (sitcom)



THE NETHERLANDS

SME TV

SME (Cooperative Media Entertainment) is a TV (and Radio) station which broadcasts on the public city TV network in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. SME was founded in February 2000 as an Afro-Surinam media organisation, but now it’s goal is to reach other black communities in the Netherlands. The TV station is also campaigning to become a national broadcasting corporation.

Programming
Event reporting and talk shows.

Video - The report is about an event organised by Da Bounce


NPS - Dutch public broadcasting

Bradaz (brothers) a Surinam-Dutch comedy on the Dutch public broadcasting Network (2001 - 2002)


GERMANY

Afrotak Cybernomads

The Afro-German community has no black television organisation, but is does have cyberNomads AFROTAK. Afrokak is an online Text & Multi Media Databank Network Community since 2001 and also does YouTube community reporting.


Programming
Event reporting, and special productions on social issues.

Video - The report is about a community weekend of the Afro-German community


BLACK US TELEVISION IN EUROPE

BET

The launch of BET in the UK 2008


Read: BET Comes To The U.K.
Look at: Pics of the BET UK launch Party

BlackTree

BlackTree Media launched BlackTree TV Europe in September 2008. Blacktree produces web TV via Youtube and their social media site.

Video - Promo of Blacktree Europe

Read: BlackTree Media launches BlackTree TV Europe at the Netherlands Film Festival

Do we want BET as black European television?

Should we be pleased with the European expansion of Black Entertainment Television BET?

BET, short for Black Entertainment Television, becomes mainstream in Europe. The company broadcasts Hip Hop, Jazz and Gospel music and various sitcoms, and life style shows. The channel started broadcasting in 2008 via the satellite network Sky UK, but rumors are that it will broadcast via the bigger media company UK Virgin TV in march 2009.

From a black political point of view there is nothing wrong with BET. BET CEO Debra Lee explained in an interview: “ It’s a place for those who are yet to be heard. Being able to control our voices and to give of voice to the black community is a political statement. Editorial decisions and the what people you have on the air. “ Besides who doesn't want to see all the black stars on TV.

The UK comedian Lenny Henry sees BET UK as a much needed channel. He stated that in the thirty years he worked for the BBC, the only black people he saw where the people on the door, in the hats and in the cantina. So far so good.

But there is also a downside. In 2007 BET aired a show based on a highly controversial website ‘Black Ghetto mess’. The project had been criticized by other African Americans, who said the site and program where demeaning and presented racist depictions of blacks. As a result two sponsors dropped their ad spots from the television show.

So do we need BET in Europe? As a BET executive puts it, ”we want to fill the gap in black cultural content.” But if you look at the problems of black youth in the UK in France and in the Netherlands, you don’t want a channel which broadcasts the opposite of that new African-American black image we see in Europe nowadays.

But maybe things will change. If Colin Powel uses BET to reach out to the troubled African American inner city youth, then they must be doing something right. Let’s hope they don’t use Europe as a try out for ghetto programs.

Read:

Black Entertainment Television (BET) UK Lauch - What Happenend
BET Retitles 'Hot Ghetto Mess' Before Debut Tonight
Website Hot Ghetto Mess