Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury has teamed with Night School and Girls Trip producer Will Packer for a new half-hour multicultural entertainment news magazine show Central Ave. The series will air live from Atlanta and is set to launch Nov. 4 on select Fox Television Stationsfor a five-week preview.
Central Ave looks to deliver entertainment and pop culture news through a provocative, socially conscious and diverse lens. Julissa Bermudez (106 & Park) will co-host the series with former Olympic track star and five-time gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross. This marks the first time in the history that two women of color have been named co-hosts of an entertainment magazine news show.
“Will Packer brings an entirely new and vibrant vision to syndication with Central Ave,” adds Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus. “We are excited to fill a need in the marketplace for a magazine show like this by partnering once again with our good friends at the Fox stations and a team headed by an A-List film producer of the caliber of Will.”
Will Packer Media and distributor Debmar-Mercury will co-produce the series, with Packer, Kelly Smith and showrunner Monique Chenault serving as executive producers.
“Central Ave will stand out in the newsmag space by presenting a unique first-person perspective on the culture-driving, trendsetting topics that mainstream audiences have a voracious appetite for,” Packer said. “Being fronted by fresh voices that happen to be diverse and female gives us license to do stories in a way no one else can.”
Packer Media and Debmar-Mercury sibling Lionsgate Television produce together OWN’s upcoming multigenerational family saga, Ambitions.
Source: Deadline