is bnc still on the air?

The Black News Channel (BNC) was an American pay television news channel, targeting the African American demographic. The channel was based in Tallahassee, Florida, and launched on February 10, 2020.[1] The station was co-founded by television executive Bob Brillante and former congressman J. C. Watts, who was also the network's chairman.[1]

The network filed for bankruptcy in March 2022 and was subsequently purchased by Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios. Upon the sale's completion on August 1, 2022, BNC was merged into TheGrio TV, an already-existing over-the-air network owned by Entertainment Studios, which will add news and commentary into that network's existing schedule.[2]

J.C. Watts had planned to launch a news network focusing specifically on black American cultural topics since the mid-2000s, and had several rounds of unsuccessful capital-raising in developing the project.[3] In the mid-2010s, a partnership with Florida A&M’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication was announced, and the station was slated to be housed there. The channel eventually launched independently of the school, in a building on Killearn Center Boulevard in Tallahassee.[3]

The launch of the network was announced in November 2018 for 2019.[3] The launch date was pushed from November 15, 2019 to January 6, 2020[4] before being pushed again to its eventual launch date, February 10, 2020.[5] One of the chief investors in the network is Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.[6] In July 2020, former CNN executive Princell Hair was named president and CEO of Black News Channel.[7][8] In March 2021, BNC reached an agreement with CBS Media Ventures to handle advertising sales.[9] That same month, BNC launched a revamp of its prime time lineup; progressive black commentators were added to the lineup (in contrast to its chairman Watts, who is a prominent conservative Republican).[10]

Between December 2021 and March 2022, over 120 members of the network's staff were either dismissed or voluntarily departed from BNC. During the network’s first two years of operation, Black News Channel suffered persistently low viewership; according to Nielsen estimates, in 2021, the network ranked 123rd out of 124 cable-originated television networks in total average viewership, with an average of 4,000 viewers per-program.[11]

On January 5, 2022, thirteen current and former female employees filed a class action gender discrimination lawsuit against BNC in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, accusing network management of paying female employees significantly lower salaries compared to male staffers, harboring a misogynistic work environment in which female staffers felt forced to conform to behavioral gender stereotypes, and retaliating against employees who formally lodged complaints about the pay disparities and personal treatment. (Two of the plaintiffs involved in the amended lawsuit had previously filed a separate complaint against BNC in August 2021.)[12][13] In response, BNC sent out a memo to their current employees informing them of the network's intent to file a motion for dismissal of the lawsuit.[14]

On March 25, 2022, it was reported that the channel would be shutting down imminently after Khan withdrew his funding following a failed attempt to sell the network. Live programming was discontinued at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time that afternoon, with the remainder of that day's schedule being filled with taped programming, mainly involving the Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Ketanji Brown Jackson. As of March 26, BNC remained operational, carrying various other programs and films it has the rights to.[15]

On March 28, the network filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Florida.[16] On May 9, Black News Channel resumed live programming, adding three hours of live news and commentary programs each weekday from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

On July 20, 2022, Byron Allen's Allen Media Group received approval from the Tallahassee-based U.S. Bankruptcy Court district to acquire Black News Channel from Khan for $11 million.[17][18] The network's existing carriage was then merged into Allen's over-the-air network TheGrio, which occurred on August 1, 2022. Allen plans to add more news and commentary into TheGrio's schedule as part of the retransmission consent stipulations made in BNC's carriage contracts.[2]

Charter Spectrum,[19] Comcast Xfinity,[20] DirecTV[21] and Verizon Fios[22] carried the channel's linear feed, while Dish Network carried it both as the network itself and as a video-on-demand service. In March 2021, BNC was available in 52 million homes, compared to over 83 million for the major cable news outlets and 75 million for conservative news network Newsmax TV.

BNC, which launched in February 2020 right before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, will no longer deliver live programming as it plans to file for bankruptcy, according to Hair. The network will air previously recorded segments at least through the end of the month, said network officials.

“Unfortunately, due to challenging market conditions and global financial pressures, we have been unable to meet our financial goals, and the timeline afforded to us has run out,” Hair said in the memo.

The network, co-founded by J.C. Watts, Jr., positioned itself as the only 24-hour news service targeted to African-American viewers when it launched with more than 50 million viewers in February 2020. BNC’s accessibility had grown to reach more than 250 million touchpoints, with carriage deals with such distributors as DirecTV, Comcast, Spectrum, Dish Network and Verizon Fios, according to the network.

The network rebranded in 2021, changing its name to BNC while developing  a 17-hour block of live news and public affairs programming.

Also: CBS Media Ventures to Help Sell Ad Sales for Revamped BNC

Hair, the former CNN general manager who was appointed president of the network in July 2021, said in the memo that the network had just recently set an all-time viewership record this week for wall-to-wall coverage of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

Hair also said the network was forced to endure “painful workforce reductions at all levels of the network” in an effort to achieve the goal of a “break-even” business.

“Please know that I am very thankful for all of your hard work and deep commitment to our mission. We have differentiated ourselves, and your achievements over these last two years should be an immense source of pride that you will carry throughout the rest of your careers," Hair said.

Also: Multicultural Perspectives: Princell Hair Leads Black News Channel Through Turbulent News Cycle (Video)

Hair's full memo appears below:

A little more than two years ago, the lights on BNC’s cameras flipped on for the first time. Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, we launched a groundbreaking mission to inject positive change into a news landscape that, for far too long, had underserved and overlooked Black and Brown people.

During the past few months, we have endured very painful workforce reductions at all levels of the network as we worked to achieve our financial goal of a break-even business. This has forced all of you to do more with less, and your contributions have been remarkable.

Unfortunately, due to challenging market conditions and global financial pressures, we have been unable to meet our financial goals, and the timeline afforded to us has run out.

It’s with a broken heart that I am letting you all know that, effective immediately, BNC will cease live production and file for bankruptcy. We are saddened and disappointed by this reality and recognize the stress that this puts on you and your families.

With the nation on the verge of a social justice reckoning not seen in this country since the Civil Rights era, we’ve been hard at work building our presence in the marketplace with unprecedented speed. Through a continuous run of distribution agreements on both linear and streaming platforms, BNC’s accessibility has grown to reach more than 250 million touchpoints.

Since rebranding and relaunching the network a year ago, we have developed a 17-hour daily block of live programming and a lineup of shows that are outstanding. Every day we present stories, context and viewpoints that illuminate and celebrate the Black experience in a way that no other network has since the dawn of television.

We have hired more than 250 Black journalists and Black production personnel, and all your hard work and dedication has lifted this network to incredible heights. There have been countless wins along the way, including gavel-to-gavel coverage of several trials that gripped our community, A-list guests throughout our dayparts and exclusive coverage of The Congressional Black Caucus’ first-ever response to the President’s State of the Union address. Just this week we set an all-time viewership record for the network during wall-to-wall coverage of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s U.S. Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

The Black News Channel has pulled the plug after the 2-year-old venture failed to meet payroll and lost the backing of its biggest investor.

Princell Hair, the company's president and CEO, told employees Friday in a memo that the news network was ceasing live production and would file for bankruptcy. BNC was available in some 50 million homes with cable and satellite but had failed to attract many viewers.

The network, founded in 2020 by former GOP congressman J.C. Watts, hired more than 250 Black journalists and production personnel last year in a relaunch following an investment by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Kahn. But it was consistently losing money, despite two rounds of layoffs, and Kahn decided to stop investing in it further. It is currently three weeks short of payroll, a company spokesman said.

More:An archive of Black newspapers is becoming more accessible at Howard. Here's why it's important.

Hair, a former CNN executive, took over in the relaunch last year. BNC brought on contributors like Charles Blow, columnist at The New York Times, and commentator Marc Lamont Hill. Correspondents were stationed in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta and Philadelphia.

The end came even as BNC recorded its biggest audience ever this week with its live coverage of the Judiciary Committee hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Hair said.

He told employees that their contributions had been remarkable, but "due to challenging market conditions and global financial pressures, we have been unable to meet our financial goals, and the timeline afforded to us has run out."

More:How trailblazing journalist Gwen Ifill inspired 'the next class of Black journalists'

Establishing a network is particularly tough at a time when consumers have so many choices and many are cutting cable or satellite cords.

"Remember that we built something great here," Hair said in his memo. "BNC, or something very close to it, will surely return at some point, because the world needs it, and all of you have proven it can be done."

News of BNC's shutdown was first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

The National Association of Black Journalists said Friday that it was looking at ways to help members that were thrown out of work by the shutdown.

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• Amazon Prime.
• AMC+
• DAZN.
• Disney+
• ESPN+
• Fanatiz.
• FITE TV.
• FloSports.

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

When the TV network Black News Channel launched two years ago, the journalists there hoped to cover stories in a different way. At the time, they said they were, quote, "dedicated to covering the unique perspectives, challenges and successes of Black and brown communities." BNC's CEO then shocked employees last week when he announced that the network would be shutting down immediately. Here to explain BNC's downfall is Rodney Ho. He's an entertainment reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution who's been covering the story. And he joins us now. Welcome.

RODNEY HO: How are you doing?

CHANG: Great. Well, if you could just give us a little more about the origin story of BNC - like, who launched it exactly?

HO: It was actually - the Congressman J.C. Watts came up with the idea and hooked up with this Pakistani billionaire, Jackson Jaguars owner Shahid Khan. And he was willing to put up quite a bit of money to start up the operation. They started, I think, officially in 2020, right before the pandemic - probably not the greatest time. And they focused on basic cable channels. They got decent distribution. I think they got into over 50 million households.

CHANG: Wow.

HO: And they also brought in Princell Hair, who is a veteran cable news network executive. He worked at CNN. And he took over last year, was really ambitious. He hired Marc Lamont Hill, the commentator. The New York Times columnist Charles Blow was also given a prime-time show. So they wanted to make it big.

CHANG: And how did BNC try to differentiate itself from the rest of the media landscape - like, how specifically?

HO: I mean, I think by dint of its title, Black News Channel - they took everything through the lens of the Black community and how it impacted them, you know? And it's interesting that they had their highest ratings just last week with Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation. Unfortunately, I guess by then, the money had started running out to try and build up this operation without getting enough of an audience.

CHANG: And can we talk about that? Like, yeah, over the recent months, BNC went through several rounds of layoffs, ultimately culminating in this announcement that the network's going to shut down entirely. Like, what caused all of this?

HO: It may be the fundamental issue that a lot of the people who follow news - they get their news from social media. You know, they get their news from YouTube and Instagram. Basic cable - it may have been a great idea to launch a basic cable network in 1992. This was not the right vehicle to catch people. And even though it was in 50 million households, like, I realize for me to find the channel, I had to go to, like, Channel 270.

CHANG: Wow.

HO: I mean, CNN and Fox News - they're on Channel 44, 46. I'm not going to wander down into that area to try and find them. It's hard to - you know, to access them. Even if you technically had access, it's like being in the top shelf in a dusty corner of a supermarket where nobody can see you.

CHANG: So you see this demise being more a symptom of, there just isn't that big of an audience for any cable news network trying to start now, rather than specifically how BNC was run.

HO: You could argue either way. You could say that maybe they spent too much. That's - some people have argued that they tried to grow too quickly without putting in the proper marketing dollars to build awareness. Or maybe it was a fundamental issue of, it wasn't the right place to build an operation. Maybe they should have focused on just doing a digital video operation. It would have been a lot cheaper.

CHANG: Well then, what's available now in the media landscape for Black and brown audiences who are interested in learning about the news but through a lens that is specific for them?

HO: They already exist, but most of them are online - I mean, theGrio, The Root. Roland Martin, who was actually offered a job at Black News Channel but turned it down because they didn't offer him enough pay - he has his own news operation. It's very small and grassroots, but he says it's profitable. I think there are ways to get news out there in a way that works and where the audience is. And unfortunately, the audience is not, you know, the - especially younger audience is no longer on cable news or cable network systems.

CHANG: Rodney Ho is a reporter with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Thank you very much for joining us today.

HO: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF CHROMATICS SONG, "BLUE GIRL")