Channel 4's groundbreaking Black to Front initiative will air over 24 hours on Friday, September 10.
This was confirmed by Variety, with one of the broadcaster's factual entertainment commissioners Vivienne Molokwu revealing that they envisioned "something that would make you stop and think and talk about representation".
Putting Black stars front and centre during its entire schedule that day, including adverts, Channel 4 is committed to championing underrepresented voices.
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Temporary line-ups include a Sir Trevor McDonald-fronted Countdown; The Big Breakfast with AJ Odudu, Mo Gilligan and original newsreader Phil Gayle; as well as a late-night talkshow titled Unapologetic, which challenges the notion of what the Black community is allowed to say.
"The true reality is that when you turn on British television, you'd be hard pressed to see for a few hours, let alone the whole day, only Black faces anywhere," added Molokwu.
"We don't have [ViacomCBS-owned Black culture-focused channel] BET... so for [this] to happen on mainstream television felt like it would be huge. It would mean that we'd all keep talking about something we know we can't fix overnight."
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Ahead of this special occasion, Odudu said in a press release: "I absolutely can't wait to get stuck into The Big Breakfast. I'm so looking forward to working with Mo and I can't wait to wake up the nation! I'm thrilled to be part of Channel 4's Black to Front – which quite rightly gives a platform to deserving Black British TV talent across our industry, both on and off screen."
TV veteran McDonald also commented: "I am proud and delighted to be presenting Countdown on this special day; I have always enjoyed watching Countdown, a show that has been around for almost as long as I have!"
Reporter, Digital Spy
Dan is a freelance entertainment journalist. Beginning his writing career in 2014, Dan's work first graced the pages of cult publications Starburst magazine and Little White Lies before moving onto Total Film, Digital Spy, NME and Yahoo Entertainment.
In the film and TV universe, he kneels at the altar of Jim Carrey, Daniel Plainview, Mike Ehrmantraut and Paulie Walnuts.
