The NAACP Image Awards will be televised live from the Dolby Theater for the first time. TV One will air the 50th annual event on March 30 from the Hollywood venue.
Nominations for the 50th NAACP Image Awards will be announced in February.
The live television announcement was made today by Leon W. Russell, the NAACP national board of directors chairman; Derrick Johnson, the NAACP president and CEO; ,Alfred Liggins, chief executive officer Urban One, Inc. and chairman/CEO, TV One; and Michelle Rice, the TV One general manager.
The NAACP Image Awards celebrates the accomplishments of people of color in television, music, literature and film along with honoring individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors. The telecast will also spotlight the significant contributions of the NAACP and the organization’s impact on the community and country.
In addition to the live telecast, TV One will also air programming honoring this year’s nominees and spotlighting significant moments. The network will provide promotional support for both programs on TV One, Radio One, Reach Media, Interactive One, and via a multi-platform marketing campaign.
“The 50th anniversary of the Image Awards represents a major milestone in bringing visibility to the outstanding achievements of African Americans in entertainment, literature, and arts, as well as the NAACP’s ongoing advocacy for equality of opportunity in our society without regard for race,” said Derrick Johnson. “We are sincerely grateful for our continued partnership with TV One and look forward to working with them on the 50th anniversary show.”
Liggins said his organization was “honored to continue our partnership with the NAACP to remain the television home for the Image Awards. The NAACP 50th Anniversary Image Awards is an important milestone for the African-American community and we couldn’t be more thrilled to offer this special programming once again to our viewers. As we prepare to celebrate the network’s 15th anniversary next year, we look forward to this very special night.”
Airing on Martin Luther King Day last year, the 49th NAACP Image Awards posted strong year-over-year growth across most demos: Households (15%), P25-54 (21%), P18-49 (44%), W18-49 (20%), and Total Viewers 2+ (10%). And, for the night, the special was a Top 5 Cable Telecast among African- Americans (Households, AA W25-54, and AA P2+). Additionally, the show has reached 2.4 Million Total Unique Viewers 2+ since airing in January 2018.
TV One also delivered a strong performance on its social platforms during last year’s awards telecast, with #ImageAwards trending #2 nationally beginning at 9 p.m. ET and continuing in the Top 5 until 3 a.m. ET.
The network generated more than 305 million impressions on Twitter using #ImageAwards and #RepresentTheDream, while traffic to the network’s website tvone.tv increased by +59% in page views. The site saw an increase of +25% for all NAACP Image Awards related content and delivered 183,000 page views (from 10/1/2017 – 1/17/2018 vs. 10/1/2016 – 2/14/2017) over 2017.
The returning production team includes executive producers Reginald Hudlin and Phil Gurin; director Tony McCuin; co-executive producer Byron Phillips; and talent producer Robin Reinhardt.
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