New York, NY (Top40 Charts) The premiere of TV One's original biopic THE BOBBY DEBARGE STORY on Saturday, June 29 debuted at #1 on television (broadcast and cable) among African Americans: P25-54, W25-54, P18-49, and W18-49. The four airings of THE BOBBY DEBARGE STORY during premiere weekend had a combined reach of 1.8 Million Unique Viewers 2+. The film ranks as TV One's #4 Original Movie premiere in the network's history among P25-54, W25-54 and viewers 2+. The network's top original films, also biopics, include WHEN LOVE KILLS: THE FALICIA BLAKELY STORY (#1), LOVE UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT: THE MIKI HOWARD STORY (#2) and BOBBI KRISTINA (#3).*
Continuing the network's tradition of highlighting inspirational music figures, THE BOBBY DEBARGE STORY explores the tumultuous life of the former lead singer of the 70's R&B/Funk Band Switch, also the eldest sibling of the world-famous pop group DeBarge.
In addition to a strong ratings performance, social media buzz was high on premiere night - the hashtag #BobbyDeBargeStory sustained momentum as a Top 10 nationally-trending topic on Twitter for over a three-hour duration, ranking as high as number 4.
Despite his success in music, the iconic falsetto found his life in peril as he struggled with fame and fortune while coping with the memories of his dysfunctional childhood. In his first role as a leading man, Roshon Fegan brilliantly transforms into the falsetto master and takes audiences inside the life of
Bobby DeBarge. The film also stars Tyra Ferrell as Etterlene DeBarge, Blue Kimble as Tommy DeBarge, Adrian Marcel as
James DeBarge,
Big Boi as legendary music mogul Berry Gordy, and
Lloyd as
Switch member Gregory Williams.
TV One will air an encore presentation of the highly anticipated film on Sunday, July 21 at 4 P.M. ET. Viewers can also download the TV ONE App to watch the film.
THE BOBBY DEBARGE STORY is produced for TV One by Swirl Films. Executive Producers are Eric Tomosunas and Teri DeBarge. The film is written by Norman Vance, Jr., directed by Russ Parr with casting provided by Leah Daniels Butler (Leah Daniels Butler Casting) and
George Pierre (Pierre Casting). For TV One,
Karen Peterkin and Jason Ryan are the Executive Producers in Charge of Production, Donyell Kennedy-McCullough is Senior
Director of Talent & Casting and
Brigitte McCray is Senior Vice President of Original Programming and Production.
*Source: Nielsen, L+3; 1-min reach qualifier; No network/program exclusions; Further qualifications available upon request.
For more information about TV One's upcoming programming, including original movies, visit the network's companion website at https://www.tvone.tv. TV One viewers can also join the conversation by connecting via social media on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@tvonetv) using the hashtags #BOBBYDEBARGESTORY and #REPRESENT. Download the TV ONE App to watch your favorite shows and movies.
ABOUT TV ONE
Launched in January 2004, TV One serves 59 million households, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies and music designed to entertain and inform a diverse audience of adult black viewers. The network represents the best in black culture and entertainment with fan favorite shows Uncensored, Unsung, Rickey
Smiley For Real, Fatal Attraction and The NAACP Image Awards. In addition, TV One is the cable home of blockbuster drama Empire. TV One is solely owned by Urban One, Inc., formerly known as
Radio One, Inc. [NASDAQ: UONE and UONEK, https://www.urban1.com , the largest African-American owned multi-media company primarily targeting
Black and urban audiences.
