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SB.TV

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SB.TV
Company typePrivately held
IndustryEntertainment, music
Genre
Founded2 November 2006
(active from 25 August 2010 onwards)[1]
FoundersJamal Edwards
Headquarters145-157 St John Street,
London, United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom, United States
Websitesbtv.co.uk

SB.TV Global Ltd, also known as SB.TV or SmokeyBarz, is a British music media and creative cultural industry company founded by Jamal Edwards. The platform was created on 2 November 2006, and has its origins in urban music. Most of the content can be seen on its own YouTube channel, or on the official SB.TV website and includes freestyle raps and music videos. SB.TV has diversified into events and have curated stages at Bestival, Wireless, Outlook and other festivals.[2] SB.TV were also invited to film interviews with a host of leading politicians at 10 Downing Street, including the Prime Minister David Cameron.[3] Edwards has also built a relationship with the Royal Family and first interviewed Prince Charles in 2013.[4]

The popularity of the channel among London's underground scene has led to features in RWD, The Observer, Time, Forbes, The Guardian, The Independent, Dazed & Confused, the Sunday Times Style magazine, Vanity Fair, Vogue and GQ while founder Jamal Edwards was on the front cover of Wired, Intelligent Life and the Emirates In-flight magazine. SB.TV also has assistant production credits from when Edwards was working as a junior runner for the BBC, and Tiger Aspect Productions as well as joining the young persons panel at The Guardian's new technology conference activate summit alongside Martha Lane Fox and others.[5][6] SB.TV has been credited with 'discovering' Ed Sheeran whose music was aired exclusively on the channel in February 2010 – a full year before he achieved worldwide fame.[7][8]

History

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SB.TV YouTube channel was created in 2006, when a teenage Jamal Edwards MBE[9] (son of singer and TV presenter Brenda Edwards) began filming rap freestyles with a handycam, which he would then upload to his YouTube account. For the first three years Edwards acted alone to provide amateur footage of many British grime[10] artists, such as Dizzee Rascal, Wiley, Chipmunk and Tinchy Stryder, with the first SB.TV video being uploaded in February 2007.[11] A Channel 4 documentary series, Bedroom to Boardroom that follows SB.TV was filmed in Edwards' first office, Camden Collective.[12][13] As the channel began to attract more attention, it also began offering lifestyle interviews and event coverage, and a production team of ten people was established as a result.

The company has stated its aim to become a more "diverse youth lifestyle broadcaster", incorporating more genres of music.[14] This has been seen in the inclusion of acoustic artists such as Ed Sheeran and other popular artists such as Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, The Wanted and Pixie Lott.[15] In February 2011, SB.TV launched their own music label Just Jam (an imprint of Sony RCA) and announced their first signing as east London MC, Maxsta.[16] In March 2011 it had been suggested that the company were expected to go into business with restaurant chain Nando's.[17]

In August 2011, Edwards was featured in a Google Chrome advertisement by London advertising agency BBH, which tracked the emergence of SB.TV as one among many of the UK's rising youth broadcasters.[18] The SB.TV website subsequently crashed as close to a million people searched "Jamal Edwards."[19] The advert was revealed to be the second most watched video advertisement on YouTube in the UK in 2011.[20]

On 10 April 2012, SB.TV released a video with grime collective Boy Better Know, to celebrate reaching 100 million views across all videos.[21]

In September 2013, Susana Giner, director of the Youth Media Agency told The Independent newspaper there was a marketing term that has been adopted in Edwards' namesake; 'The Jamal Edwards effect', a newly adopted ideology that anything’s possible in the digital age. [4]

In 2013 Edwards became the first YouTuber to release an e-book and interactive game, ‘Self Belief: The Vision', which subsequently became a no.1 best seller with demand leading to an unintended print version via Virgin Books.[22] Edwards worked with Burberry as part of Creative Lives,[23] fronted a Puma campaign,[24] presented at the BAFTA Children’s Awards,[25] and delivered talks for Cannes Lions,[26] TedXHollywood [27] and TedXHousesOfParliament.[28] In a nod to his grandparents, he received a St Vincent Business Award in 2013.[29]

Edwards was honoured when he became one of the Queen’s Young Leaders,[30] after being called upon to run the first ever social media hub at Buckingham Palace. Achievements like this saw Jamal placed at no. 2 in The Guardian’s top 30 young people in digital media 2014.[31]

In 2014, Edwards was invited to collaborate with American Freshman on a headwear range for Topman. The snapbacks and bucket hats went on sale in the summer.[32]

Edwards co-founded UGOT, a yogurt, juice and health bar chain with entrepreneur Jo Carnell.[33]

In December 2014, Edwards was appointed a MBE for his services to music.[9][34]

In January 2016, SBTV announced the launch of SBTV News, an online news service, in partnership with the Press Association, chaired by former EMAP, Hearst, Axel Springer and Future CEO Colin Morrison.[35]

Services

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SBTV is built on three core services: broadcasting, production and editorial services.

Broadcasting

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SBTV continue to broadcast video whether for music, freestyle, acoustic, interviews or any other categories within youth culture. All of the company's content is displayed on their YouTube channel. This content is mainly produced by SBTV but they do allow submissions as well. The company also uses social networking extensively to interact with viewers through which new blog and news articles are published.

Production

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Just like broadcasting, SBTV has always produced its own content and have developed new techniques over time. Most of the content is shot in "fast and agile situations" to deliver an enticing perspective for the viewer. Among the videos that are shot, produced and directed by SBTV are music videos, documentaries and SBTV event material.

Editorial

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The majority of employees at SBTV have experience in various printed urban publications and therefore know how to present material to a younger audience. This includes providing the latest news on music releases, films, music videos and artists.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "SBTV Global Ltd". Company Check. 10 November 2011. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 10 November 2011.
  2. ^ "SB.TV to Host Stage at Yahoo! Wireless". Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  3. ^ SBTV. "SB.TV - Jamal Edwards interviews David Cameron at Downing St - Spirit of London Awards 2011 - SBTV". SBTV. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  4. ^ a b Burrell, Ian (27 September 2013). "The Jamal Edwards effect: Generation success - the media savvy stars taking over the world (wide web)". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 25 September 2015. Retrieved 11 September 2017.
  5. ^ Spicer, Kate, Sunday Times Style: "He is typical of many entrepreneurial satellite characters who are turning grime into not just a sound, but a movement.. Ed Balls’s Department for Children, Schools and Families wants precisely Edwards’ (ME) breed of ingenuity to infect some of the hardest to reach kids in the country".
  6. ^ Ajilore, Joseph, "The rise and rise of a new media mogul – Jamal Edwards of SBTV" Archived 2011-09-17 at the Wayback Machine, Your Hidden Potential (YHP), 27 May 2011: "SB.TV has since reached over 70 million viewers on YouTube becoming one of the most subscribed channels on YouTube attracting people from all over the world."
  7. ^ "Jamal Edwards, music entrepreneur and YouTube star, dies aged 31". Sky News. Retrieved 21 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Home-made TV from London to change everything". Flashes & Flames. Archived from the original on 2015-11-15. Retrieved 2015-12-04.
  9. ^ a b "Music boss gets New Year Honours" Archived 2019-02-26 at the Wayback Machine. BBC News, (2014). Accessed 31 December 2014.
  10. ^ Fiddy, Chantelle (June 2010), "SB.TV’s Jamal is Grime’s Simon Cowell", Dazed & Confused, p. 28.
  11. ^ "Jamal Edwards got his first video camera when was 15". Time. 12 September 2014. Archived from the original on 29 May 2015. Retrieved 29 May 2015.
  12. ^ "What's next for London? The High Life Future of London forum". British Airways High Life. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  13. ^ "Inside SBTV: From Bedroom to Boardroom". Channel 4. Archived from the original on 2015-11-20. Retrieved 2015-10-30.
  14. ^ "It is the drive to succeed at the very highest level that motivates SB.TV", RWD.
  15. ^ Goodman, Chris; Okoye, Felicia (1 November 2011). "Having expanded his repertoire – Jessie J, Nicki Minaj, The Wanted and Pixie Lott among the many celebrities who've now exclusively spoken to or performed for Jamal – SB.TV has become a set fixture on the major label-marketing plan and beyond". Outside Organisation. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. Retrieved 19 November 2011.
  16. ^ SB.TV brand profile Archived 2011-05-18 at the Wayback Machine — Urban Development.
  17. ^ "UK News: SB.TV and Nandos Chicken Set To Do Business Together?" Archived 2011-08-17 at the Wayback Machine Mad News, 31 March 2011.
  18. ^ "SBTV Founder Jamal Edwards Stars In New Google Chrome Advert" Archived 2012-07-18 at archive.today — We Are S.M.E.
  19. ^ Rai, Rajvir (22 September 2011). "Jamal Edwards ... the Acton kid and his media empire". London Evening Standard. Archived from the original on 24 October 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2011.
  20. ^ "The UK's top ten most popular YouTube video ads in 2011". Google UK. 6 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  21. ^ "Boy Better Know 100M YouTube views - [CYPHER]: SBTV". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved 2014-10-07.
  22. ^ "Jamal Edwards presents Self Belief: The Vision - Virgin.com". Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  23. ^ "In2 Innovation Summit". Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  24. ^ "Puma signs Jamal Edwards as brand ambassador". Marketing Week. 2 March 2012. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  25. ^ "British Academy Children's Awards Ceremony in 2014". 23 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  26. ^ Jamal Edwards (SB.TV) at Cannes Lions 2014. 17 June 2014 – via YouTube.
  27. ^ The Future of Democracy: Jamal Edwards at TEDxHousesofParliament. 27 June 2013. Archived from the original on 16 January 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2015 – via YouTube.
  28. ^ "Jamal Edwards ‹ Speakers ‹ 2013 ‹ TEDxHousesOfParliament". TEDx Houses of Parliament. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  29. ^ "Vincentian entrepreneurs awarded in the UK". iWitness News. 5 December 2013. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  30. ^ The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. "The Queen's Young Leaders - The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust". The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  31. ^ Matt Andrews (16 March 2014). "The top 30 young people in digital media: Nos 30-11". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-12-13.
  32. ^ "Clothing". topman.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  33. ^ What Sophie Did. "Sophie's Choice: 15 MINUTES WITH UGOT COFOUNDER: JOE CARNELL". Archived from the original on 2015-05-29. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  34. ^ Rykesha Hudson, "Young Entrepreneur Jamal Edwards Honoured By Queen" Archived 2015-01-01 at the Wayback Machine, The Voice, 30 December 2014. Accessed 1 January 2015.
  35. ^ Sweney, Mark (2016-01-20). "YouTube video channel SBTV links with PA for youth news service". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2017-03-19. Retrieved 2017-04-20.
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