Unapologetically black. That’s how Black on Purpose on Television (BOPTV) founder/CEO Michael Campbell describes his West End-based streaming network for people of color.
After 30 years working in the music industry, the New York native moved to Atlanta eight years ago after a stint in Las Vegas as the city’s movie and television industry boom began.
“I kept hearing it was ‘Black Hollywood,’” Campbell said, “but it’s really not. There is not equal representation.”
With the rise of YouTube and streaming content, Campbell conceived BOPTV as “a platform to show people of color in positive light with no negative stereotypes.”
BOPTV now has more than 5,000 pieces of content on 16 channels – including news, health, films, kids, food, shopping, sports, business and history – with 1.5 million viewers daily from around the world. The network is available you have Roku, Amazon Fire or an internet-capable television, and will soon be available via Apple TV and Google Chromecast.
“You won’t find our programming on regular TV,” Campbell said. “We’re encouraging content creators of color to partner with us, as well as advertisers who are trying to reach a laser-beamed focus target market.”
With the platform’s growing viewership, Campbell and his team are currently working on BOPTV’s next evolution – a full-fledged production studio not far from the Atlanta BeltLine’s soon-to-open Westside Trail.
Campbell and his investors purchased the former Rosalie Wright Elementary School building in the Florida Heights community, which borders historic Westview Cemetery, earlier this year with plans to convert it into studio and creator space. Campbell also hopes the adaptive re-use of the building will act as catalyst to jumpstart the neighborhood’s renaissance.
The 25,000-sqare-foot school building will get an additional 10,000-square-feet to include a café, game room and more office space for the growing network. With his musical background, Campbell also wants to reopen the school to kids for weekly musical instrument lessons in some of the former classroom space.
For more about BOPTV, visit blackonpurposetv.com.