Esprit Television Network Launches New Season of Shows With Taboo Topics After Three Year Break

Norfolk, USA, April 18, 2016 (Newswire.com) - ​​​​​​​​​​After three years of minimal production, Esprit Television Network, formerly Blaze Television Network is launching a new fall 2016 season of programming and its diving right into the deep end of religion and politics. 

Prior to the name change to Esprit Television, the network produced several cutting edge web-based shows as one of the first Internet television networks to appear on the scene. "When Blaze Television Network was founded in 2007, Youtube was a brand new medium at only two years old," said CEO and founder Ava Gabrielle. "Hulu was founded the same year and just the cost of the proprietary software to build a platform to upload and show independent video and film productions of various genres was considerable. The other platforms started with literally millions in capitalization, I was a one woman show on a shoestring, but I did it." 

"This season is too important for Esprit to allow it to let slip by in radio silence", said Gabrielle. No self-respecting political program can let the race to the White House slip by without weighing in on the topic".

Ava Gabrielle, President/CEO, Esprit Television Network

The network produced it's own original programming with shows like "Dual Perspectives" in which show hosts sparred with differing opinions about current events and "For Such a Time" that chronicled the lives of influential people in politics and entertainment. Gabrielle hosted a faith-based program entitled "Kingdom Brunch" that reflected upon biblical principles. As it was a presidential election year, reporting staff went on location at the conventions and related events around the country. The network also focused on special interests such as hunger, as is seen in a special episode of "For Such a Time" featuring David Arquette as the national spokesperson for "Feeding America". The network also focused on highlighting new music by teaming up with New York DJ Kayslay to help shine a spotlight on new artists emerging onto the hip hop scene. 

In 2012, Blaze sold its digital assets including the domain name to a larger media company, which required the name of the network to be changed. The name Esprit was selected to symbolize the new life that network executives planned for the future. In the five years since the founding of Blaze however, things in the web-based entertainment industry had changed; a once emerging industry had become significantly more developed. By the time of the acquisition of Blaze's digital assets, Youtube had over 4 billion videos that were viewed more than 11 trillion times per day, and Hulu was well on its way to inking deals with most every major network. Esprit redesigned the original site with the new name and logo, then produced and accepted a few new programs, but management ultimately decided to go on hiatus, reorganize and launch again with a new game plan.

Unlike 2007, investing in technology to provide streaming infrastructure was no longer necessary given the bandwith and streaming capability that sites like Youtube could already provide. Current social media platforms also have a diverse marketplace complete with every demographic. This will allow for the greatest emphasis to be placed on programming and medium integration technology. As such, the Esprit Television site is being revamped to focus on new advances in technology such as portability, interactivity and platform integration. While it is being overhauled, Esprit Television will focus on producing quality programming and re-introduce itself to the viewing audience through existing external platforms.

True to it's history, as was the case eight years ago, Esprit will cover the campaigns of those seeking to run for office in 2016.  The network will start producing "mini-sodes", shortened versions of the regular programs, in the summer prior to the start of the regular season. "This season is too important for Esprit to allow it to let slip by in silence", said Gabrielle.  The network will premiere "Fairgrounds", with Ava Gabrielle, a political commentary that will cover all things politics on the national and global theater and will reprise "Spirit and Truth", a spiritual staple in the Esprit lineup since 2012. "For Such A Time: A Chronicle of the Age" is expected to return in the regular season with a new host as well as a show that focuses on US history that is currently under development.

Source: Esprit Television Network

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