Business
RLJ Entertainment Launches the Urban Movie Channel – UMC
RLJ Entertainment – a subsiduary company of the The RLJ Companies, on November 5 announced the launch of UMC (Urban Movie Channel), a subscription streaming video on demand service, with a mix of comedy, drama, horror and documentary titles.
Commenting on the launch of the channel, Robert Johnson said, “As founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), I have gained a deep understanding and knowledge about the African American and urban consumer and the entertainment content that appeals to them. UMC was designed so that the African American and urban creative community could directly reach consumers in a way that removes many of the restrictions associated with the legacy content development and distribution models.
As more video is consumed over broadband, we believe that we can quickly become the preeminent provider of quality urban entertainment to what has largely been an underserved, yet highly engaged audience. I am convinced that urban consumers will gravitate to the economic and entertainment value proposition of UMC and that the creative community will embrace UMC as the best way to reach their loyal fans and benefit financially from showcasing their outstanding work product.”
Programs previously released by RLJ Entertainment under the One Village brand will be incorporated into UMC’s library, which will also include titles from RLJ Entertainment ‘s existing Image independent feature film line. UMC will launch with a free trial period for subscribers through February 4, 2015 and with a suggested retail price of US$4.99/month or US$49.99/year thereafter, but with a special limited time introductory pricing of US$2.99/month or US$29.99/year to start.
The CEO of RLJ Entertainment stated, “As one of the largest independent distributors of entertainment content with nascent propriety streaming channels like Acorn TV, we are uniquely positioned to fulfill the vision of our chairman and deliver to the urban audience an unprecedented library of high quality video content. We are confident in RLJ Entertainment ‘s ability to acquire, distribute, and monetize existing and original content that will appeal to the urban community across the growing number of distribution platforms.”
Among the titles launching are live stand-up performances featuring Kevin Hart, Jamie Foxx, and Charlie Murphy; documentaries Dark Girls and I Ain’t Scared of You: A Tribute to Bernie Mac; the feature films All Things Fall Apart starring 50 Cent, Mario Van Peebles, and Ray Liotta; and The Suspect starring Mekhi Phifer. Bestsellers include the stage play production of What My Husband Doesn’t Know by David E. Talbert. UMC can be found at: www.urbanmoviechannel.com.
About RLJ Entertainment: RLJ Entertainment, Inc. is a premier independent owner, developer, licensee and distributor of entertainment content and programming in primarily North America, the United Kingdom and Australia. RLJ Entertainment is a leader in numerous genres via its owned and distributed brands such as Acorn (British TV), Image (feature films, stand-up comedy), UMC (urban), Acacia (fitness), Athena (documentaries), and Madacy (gift sets). These titles are distributed in multiple formats including broadcast television (including satellite and cable), theatrical and non-theatrical, DVD, Blu-Ray, digital download, and digital streaming.
