Debmar-Mercury & Will Packer's 'Central Ave' Set to Debut Sept. 26 in 200+ Markets
Lionsgate’s Debmar-Mercury and record-breaking producer Will Packer (Night School, Girls Trip) will bring back the nationally syndicated, multicultural, investigative entertainment & pop culture magazine show CENTRAL AVE for the full 2020-21 season on Saturday, September 26, with two original weekly half-hour episodes.
Following a limited run last year, the half-hour series will air in 210 markets including on FOX Television Stations, Sinclair, CBS and The CW-Plus, delivering relevant entertainment and pop culture stories through a provocative, socially conscious and diverse lens.
Veteran entertainment reporter Julissa Bermudez (BET's 106 & Park, Empire Girls) and four-time Olympic gold medalist Sanya Richards-Ross return to their historic roles as the first two women of color to host an entertainment magazine show.
“Central Ave has changed the way audiences view and relate to pop culture and the entertainment world,” said Will Packer. “The diverse and powerful stories featured on this show are meant to provoke, infuriate and inspire people to make positive changes that will impact our society and the world around us.”
Co-Creator Monique Chenault will serve as showrunner of Central Ave and, together with Packer and Will Packer Media’s Kelly Smith, executive producer.
“Painstakingly positioned to be an authority on what drives popular culture, Central Ave is fully committed to investigating and examining the entertainment, trends and celebrities that are making the greatest impact. The audience will get in-depth, comprehensive storytelling through a culturally diverse lens that stems from a richly diverse editorial team behind the scenes,” Chenault said about the vison of the show.
The series also features a diverse group of skilled correspondents with different areas of expertise; Van Lathan, formerly of TMZ, along with Kennedy- Rue McCollough, Sloane Glass, Melissa McCarty, Neima Abdulaha and Zach Greenburg.
Debmar-Mercury Co-Presidents Ira Bernstein and Mort Marcus said, “Central Ave will add a much-needed voice to this genre at such a critical juncture in our history. We’re proud to be collaborating with Will, Monique and the great team they have assembled for this breakthrough series that, above all else, we find to be informative and very entertaining.”