The initial 10 segments of "BeFree" will feature hip-hop stars Pharoahe Monch and Hasan Salaam, with future versions to focus on up-and-coming acts and even music professors and students. In general, they are labeled as "artists who are facilitating social change through their music."
The new programming is scheduled to debut as students head back to school for the fall.
TUN, part of Submedia, is ad-supported with marketers such as AirTran Airways, "Obama for President" and Nintendo Wii targeting the lucrative college-age set.
"Marketers have seen their holy grail audience become increasingly disconnected from mainstream entertainment shows and music," said Max Saffer, a vice president at TUN, who produced the programming.
advertisement
advertisement
"College students are drawn to original music with an uplifting and politically aware message. "BeFree" connects student viewers with the entertainment subjects they are discovering in their own time," he adds, "and that deliver a message marketers are comfortable being associated with."
TUN has programming partnerships with NBC on Campus, eAsylum and Jim Cramer's The Street TV.