Jay Z is venturing into the television business with the announcement of Roc Nation launching a television production division. This new arm of Roc Nation will be led by Patrick Reardon, who comes from the Weinstein Co.

According to Variety, Reardon “will be responsible for building and running the TV department, focusing on developing and producing premium scripted and unscripted content.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time Roc Nation has created programming for television. As Variety states, Spike TV recently aired Time: The Kalief Browder Story,” which won a Peabody award, and the company also produced Rest in Power: The Trayvon Martin Story, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Other producing credits for Jay Z also include the upcoming film Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said? starring Mike Epps as Pryor and upcoming TV series Race with Jay Z.

But by establishing a production wing, Jay Z will firmly cement his power and prestige as a multi-platform mogul. It will also make him a new, important player in a field that is already becoming over-saturated by various streaming networks and on-demand options. Despite any hurdles Jay Z might face in a crowded television market, if the above titles suggest Roc Nation’s future, then the platform will be a vital one when it comes to increasing the visibility of black stories and black issues.

Patrick Reardon

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