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Fuse Media Relaunching Fuse Beat FAST Channel as Shades of Black to Celebrate Black Artists

David Satin
David covers the biggest news stories, live events, premieres, and informational pieces for The Streamable. Before joining TS, he wrote extensively for Screen Rant and has years of experience writing about the entertainment and streaming industries. He's a Broncos fan, streams on his Toshiba Fire TV, and his favorites include "Andor," "Rings of Power," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
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David Satin

Fuse Media, a Lantinx-owned media company dedicated to multicultural content, is continuing its efforts to offer more programming for Black viewers. Fuse announced on Friday that it is relaunching its Fuse Beat channel as Shades of Black, a free, ad-supported TV (FAST) channel dedicated to celebrating Black artists, performers, and directors.

“The rebrand to Shades of Black aligns the channel more closely with its brand mission, which is to celebrate the multifaceted Black experience and impact on our culture,” Fuse Media Chairman & CEO Miguel Roggero said. “In little more than a year since its launch, the channel has connected strongly with audiences, growing each month to its highest viewership yet this past August. We are thrilled with the viewer response to the channel and its uplifting content, both at home and abroad.”

Shades of Black will be fully rebranded by later this month and is available to stream now via Fuse Media, Freevee, Roku, XUMO or Pluto TV.

Check out a promo for the newly rebranded channel:

Fuse Media first launched in 2021, and currently offers over 500 hours of premium movies, TV series, and documentaries. According to Fuse’s internal numbers, the service had over 100 million minutes of content watched in the month of August alone. Fuse has been expanding its FAST channel offerings this year, as well.

In March, the company launched the Latino Vibes and Camptastic channels. Latino Vibes is devoted to English-language Latino entertainment, while Camptastic bills itself as the home of “strange forgotten gems, perfect camp classics AND all the ‘crazy TV’ you can handle.”

Black audiences are seeking out more streaming content, so it’s a smart move on Fuse’s part to create and distribute more content produced by Black performers and directors.

Way back in 2017, multichannel video programming distributors reached 88% of Black households. But Black viewers have continued to cut the cord, and that number was down to 61% in October of last year. With the streaming landscape continuing to evolve, and more Black viewers choosing streaming over linear TV, Shades of Black may simply be the jumping-off point for streamers looking to make and distribute content by Black artists.

David Satin
David covers the biggest news stories, live events, premieres, and informational pieces for The Streamable. Before joining TS, he wrote extensively for Screen Rant and has years of experience writing about the entertainment and streaming industries. He's a Broncos fan, streams on his Toshiba Fire TV, and his favorites include "Andor," "Rings of Power," and "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds."
Read full bio ›
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