Streaming service Brown Sugar is 'just like Netflix, only blacker'
LOS ANGELES -- African-American broadcast network Bounce TV is jumping into the subscription streaming service world.
The network on Thursday launched Brown Sugar, a streaming app available on mobile phones, tablets and online for $4 per month.
The service is home to iconic black movies, including: The Mack, Foxy Brown, Shaft, Super Fly, Dolemite, Cotton Comes to Harlem, Uptown Saturday Night, Cooley High, Three The Hard Way, Coffy, Black Caesar, Five on the Black Hand Side, Cleopatra Jones, Mandingo, Willie Dynamite, Which Way is Up?, Car Wash, and The Original Gangstas.
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“Brown Sugar is just like Netflix, only blacker,” actress Pam Grier, who stars in Foxy Brown, said in a statement.
“Brown Sugar is just like Netflix, only blacker."
“These movies are entertaining and fun, but they were also empowering to the black community as they depicted African-Americans as strong leading characters and heroes for the first time.”
Grier is one of the streaming service's so-called ambassadors alongside actor Fred “The Hammer” Williamson and producer Rick Ross.
"You can see the influence of these movies in every aspect of rap and hip-hop; in the music, the lyrics, the fashion and overall style," Ross said in a statement. "The Blaxploitation genre is where it all began.”
The service joins a growing list of SVOD offerings for consumers.
It is the second to home in on programming for African-American viewers. In June, Viacom-owned BET also joined the SVOD club by launching its own app BET Play.
Fullscreen, Fandango, Lionsgate and Kevin Hart, ComicCon and Lionsgate, Defy Media's ScreenJunkies Plus, TIME Inc. and Legendary Digital Networks have also launched or announced plans for OTT offerings this year.
Saba was a Los Angeles-based reporter who covers all things digital entertainment, including YouTube, streaming services and digital influencers. Prior to that, she spent two years at the Los Angeles Times covering entertainment for the Calendar and Company Town sections. Saba grew up in Santa Monica and graduated from Boston University with a B.S. in journalism and B.A. in political science. When not reporting, she is usually binge watching shows online or looking for new coffee shops to frequent.
