After focusing on the voices of women of color for the last decade through the Café Mocha Radio Network, company founder Sheila Eldridge is setting her sights on podcasting. The company has launched the Mocha Podcasts Network (MPN) as a platform for the voices and perspectives of multicultural women. MPN launches with nearly two dozen podcasts, including shows hosted by entertainers such as Loni Love, Sherri Shepherd, Kym Whitley, legendary music group, En Vogue, along with veteran broadcast journalists Rolonda Watts and Jacque Reid.
“As a Black-owned network that proudly celebrates the Black experience, we’re committed to creating content from an authentic perspective,” said Eldridge. “Today, everyone has a podcast, but the Mocha Podcasts Network provides listeners and advertisers with quality over quantity.”
MPN promises that in addition to creating a podcast network designed specifically to reach women of color, it will also offer advertisers a “safe marketplace” to align their brands with a variety of trusted community voices. The advertising effort will be led by Reggie Denson, the CEO of R2D Marketing Group, who Mocha says will create ad campaigns that align brands with the networks diverse, like-minded hosts.
“Our approach goes beyond traditional ads and extends to cross-promotions and partnerships to maximize results and engagement. We’re just not selling downloads. We’re creating campaigns and concepts designed to engage listeners,” said Denson. “And, most importantly, we’re serving Black women, a demographic that has been largely underrepresented in the podcasting industry despite the fact that they will drive Black spending power toward a whopping $1.5 trillion by 2021. Now is the time for Black creators and advertisers to invest in this golden opportunity.”
Eldridge is also extending Mocha’s longstanding strategic partnership with Jim Watkins of Windy Oak Communications to provide state-of-the-art podcast visual and audio production services.
Eldridge, the CEO of Miles Ahead Entertainment & Broadcasting, has an inside track talent that may be interested in launching a podcast. She is also the creator of Orchid Communications, a full-service communications firm with a client roster that included Janet Jackson, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, the O’Jays, Ice T, En Vogue, and Yolanda Adams.
Among the podcasts in MPN’s lineup at launch is Two Funny Mamas, which is co-hosted by TV personality Sherri Shepard and comedian-actress Kym Whitley, which is jumping to the new network. “I completely respect the new podcast networks that are coming out, but I love working with Black women. There’s strength when we unite,” said Shepherd, who turned down other podcast network deals.
Other shows on the Mocha Podcasts Network will focus on a variety of topics that include entertainment, health and wellness, music, finance, entrepreneurship, and news. That list includes Funky Divas, a podcast hosted by the members of En Vogue. And Rolonda On Demand, hosted by television host, actress, and author, Rolonda Watts. And the Super PowHer podcast co-hosted by Black Voters Matter co-founder and voting rights activist LaTosha Brown and marketing veteran, Sheila Coates.