All Hail the Queens! Centric Announces “Queen Boss” the First Business Competition Reality Series for African-American Female Entrepreneurs
Hosted by Tracey Edmonds; Celebrity Judges Panel Include Vanessa
Simmons, Lauren Lake and Guest Judges Kandi Burruss, Angela Benton,
Carla Hall, Lisa Price, Rakia Reynolds, Mikki Taylor, Robin Wilson
“Queen Boss” Premieres Saturday, January 14th
at 10:00 P.M. ET on Centric
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Over 500,000 new businesses start up each month in the United States,
and African-American women represent the fasting-growing group of
entrepreneurs. But how do these women know if they have a great concept
for a business, and if they have the skills to be a C.E.O.? CENTRIC
answers this question on Saturday, January 14 at 10:00 PM ET, in
its first business competition-reality series “Queen Boss.”
Hosted by television personality and business woman Tracey Edmonds, “Queen
Boss” is a new 8-episode series that strives to find the best and
brightest African-American female entrepreneurs and have them compete
for the business opportunity of a lifetime. Each week, 3 new female
entrepreneurs will step into the “Queen Boss Conference Room” where
they’ll pitch their products to a panel of esteemed celebrity judges
including Vanessa Simmons, Lauren Lake, Kandi Burruss,
Carla Hall, Mikki Taylor, Lisa Price, Rakia
Reynolds, Angela Benton and Robin Wilson. The
entrepreneurs are all impressive women, but the judges put them to the
test to see who has the Product, Passion, and Potential to win the
competition.
Here’s how it works. Each episode of “Queen Boss” features two
distinct rounds of competition. In the first round, three of the
competing entrepreneurs pitch their individual products to the judges
who then deliberate with the host and eliminate one of the three
entrepreneurs from the competition. In round two, the remaining two
entrepreneurs are put to the ultimate test by competing against each
other in a business challenge. The business challenges – which range
from executing the perfect elevator pitch, out-trading the local
professionals in the SoHo flea market scene, and creating a viral
marketing on social media, — take the ladies out of the boardroom and
into the streets of New York City to see if they can show the judges
they have the passion, creativity, and brains to win. The 6 winners
return for a semi-final and final round episodes, as the judges narrow
the field and ultimately select one woman to win the grand prize $25,000
“Queen Boss Start-Up Fund” to get her business off the ground and the
title of “Queen Boss!”
“Queen Boss” is produced by Ora TV, with Jon Housman the
Executive Producer and Blake Levin the Showrunner and Executive Producer
of the series. SWSI Media co-produced, with Heidi Lehmann, Marci
Weisler, and Suzette Cabildo serving as Co-Executive Producers. Leonard
Burnett, Jamie Schutz, and Lindsay Roth also produced.
ABOUT CENTRIC
Centric is the only multi-platform lifestyle brand designed to boldly
celebrate the diverse and beautiful world of Black women. A 24-hour
music and entertainment channel, Centric has its finger on the pulse of
an ever-changing beat and delivers compelling content that reflects,
inspires and addresses the unique perspectives of Black women.
ABOUT BET NETWORKS:
BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIA.B), is the
nation’s leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and
public affairs television programming for the African-American audience.
The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can
be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom
and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer
brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading
Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news;
CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to
54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks – BET Gospel
and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment
tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings
for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event
Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with
festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides
ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET
International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the
extension of BET network programming for global distribution.
ABOUT ORA TV:
Ora TV is an on-demand digital entertainment network and production
company founded by broadcasting legend Larry King & Mexican business
mogul Carlos Slim. Since its launch in 2012, Ora TV has created and
distributed award-winning original talk, news, lifestyle, variety,
documentary, and scripted programming for a variety of platforms,
including digital and linear television. Current and past programming
includes: multi-Emmy® nominated Larry King Now (entering its fifth
season), PoliticKING with Larry King, Off the Grid with Jesse Ventura,
Catching Hell, Brown Bag Wine Tasting with William Shatner, Real Girl’s
Kitchen with Haylie Duff and Beer Geeks. Ora TV has been featured in
Variety, Hollywood Reporter, New York Times, Wall Street Journal,
Entertainment Weekly, TV Guide, Bloomberg, TubeFilter, Forbes, and more.
Each month, Ora TV-produced content generates 120 million impressions
and reaches 40 million unique visitors across our premiere destination
site, partnerships & syndication network.
ABOUT SWSI MEDIA:
SWSI Media – Smart Women. Smart Ideas. provides a platform for women
entrepreneurs and women in business to grow their businesses and
careers, taking a unique approach to powering brands so they can get
known and go big. SWSI develops original content, ranging from
entertaining series, including Queen Bee and Fashion Geeks, to branded
content to social media, and distributes cross-channels, from digital to
TV to OTT platforms. Additionally, SWSI provides digital expertise,
growth strategies, partner development and more so they can grow their
companies. content around female entrepreneurs is launching the next big
brands. SWSI takes a unique approach to powering new brands so they can
get known, get funded and go big. SWSI founders Heidi E. Lehmann, Marci
Weisler and Suzette Cabildo have spent their careers building
entrepreneurial ventures, startups and media brands. For more
information visit www.SWSImedia.com.
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Contacts
BET Networks
LeToya Glenn-Bacon, 212-205-3158
Letoya.Glenn@bet.net
