Big Rollo Smokes 260 Posted March 26, 2022 Share Posted March 26, 2022 Black News Channel, the first all-news cable channel targeted to viewers of color, and staffed nearly exclusively by journalists of color suspended its operations yesterday (Mar. 25) after just over two years on the air. BNC reached a high water mark this past week when it's coverage of the Judge Ketanji Brown-Jackson confirmation hearings gave the channel its highest viewership numbers ever. But that was too little, too late to save the operation from the financial issues that crippled it from the start, and especially in the first two months of this year. In January, BNC announced staff reductions. And yesterday's closure announcement was prefaced with the revelation of an internal email informing employees that payroll wouldn't be met this week. To that end, BNC's main moneyman Shad Khan (owner of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars) promised to pay staffers' salaries through the end of the month. But he's apparently done investing more of his billions into the money-losing operation. No mention of the shutdown was made on-air last night on the channel's last live shows. What happens to BNC on-air is unknown at this point, but it's certain to be going away sooner rather than later. Roland Martin, and Scott Jones at FTVLive have chronicling this story in-depth. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLETVFan 367 Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 I think it was better off starting as a streaming channel or maybe an over-the-air subchannel instead of straight to cable. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271704 Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRob 938 Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 As of today, BNC is still technically on the air, re-running Friday's newscasts. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271706 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Briella 234 Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 IMO the only entity that could fill this niche is BET News. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271707 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 830 Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 4 hours ago, CLETVFan said: I think it was better off starting as a streaming channel or maybe an over-the-air subchannel instead of straight to cable. You're right! Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271711 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MediaZone4K 2190 Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 8 hours ago, Wildish said: IMO the only entity that could fill this niche is BET News. Exactly! In this day and age where cable is going downhill, they were probably better off launching as a programming block on BET. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271714 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankees4life 559 Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 Yeah...this channel was doomed from the start. With the Khans having a new pet project in ROH, I didn't see them keeping stuff like this around. It's unfortunate but (black) people around my age aren't watching the news on TV (much less cable TV) so this was doomed from the start. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271855 Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathannah 2445 Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 2 hours ago, Yankees4life said: Yeah...this channel was doomed from the start. With the Khans having a new pet project in ROH, I didn't see them keeping stuff like this around. It's unfortunate but (black) people around my age aren't watching the news on TV (much less cable TV) so this was doomed from the start. Plus there's the fact all these channels have come by with big promises to cover news properly...and eventually they just won't budget for more in-depth programming and depend on pundits, or like BET did, cut it out for more profitable entertainment programming or cheaper movies or worse...sell dead time to telepreachers. Their 'we're going to be FNC for our niche!' botched marketing at the start didn't help at all, and Minneapolis caught them flat-footed. Finally, basing it out of Tallahassee rather than a more logical base like Jacksonville, Atlanta (where most everyone outside TLH was based), or Chicago meant they were going to incur high satellite/IP costs right off the bat; yes, housing might have been lower for staff, but no one was putting Tallahassee on any stop in a press tour for a book or film, and it didn't matter when that big-money studio became just a place to introduce Zoom call pundit heads (again, mainly from homes in Atlanta!). And agreed about the Khans; they have a mess with the Jaguars to deal with and the wrestling at least attracts an audience, so that's where the money and focus seems to be at for them. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271857 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Rollo Smokes 260 Posted April 1, 2022 Author Share Posted April 1, 2022 Roland Martin broke it down best, on the reasons why BNC failed. And he's right on all points. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271858 Share on other sites More sharing options...
MediaZone4K 2190 Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 From what I saw the graphical and presentation quality were not the best. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271876 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gavin M. 94 Posted April 1, 2022 Share Posted April 1, 2022 16 hours ago, Yankees4life said: Yeah...this channel was doomed from the start. With the Khans having a new pet project in ROH, I didn't see them keeping stuff like this around. It's unfortunate but (black) people around my age aren't watching the news on TV (much less cable TV) so this was doomed from the start. No it could’ve been successful if it was on a digital multicast like Bounce TV is. Because that enables linear and digital at the same time. They even have some fully non-sub channel owned-and-operated stations in LA, Raleigh. In addition to their secondary digital repeater station In those markets which are sub channels of Univision stations in the markets which are also Univision O&Os. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271877 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaking News 830 Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 On 4/1/2022 at 2:09 PM, iron_lion said: From what I saw the graphical and presentation quality were not the best. Actually it was better than some small market stations who budget much cheaper. Link to comment https://localnewstalk.net/topic/18816-black-news-channel-shuts-down/#findComment-271926 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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