Black News Channel Shuts Down After Two Years On The Air – CB

Cable TV outlet Black Information Channel has abruptly shut down after two years on the air, and simply after hitting new viewership highs throughout this week’s affirmation hearings for Supreme Court docket nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

In a memo to workers, CEO Princell Hair cited “difficult market circumstances and world monetary pressures” for the choice to wind down operations, in accordance with a number of experiences. The Nationwide Affiliation of Black Journalists, a distinguished commerce group, confirmed the shutdown in a blog post. It pledged to help the roughly 200 workers affected by the transfer.

BNC was co-founded by former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts and longtime TV govt Bob Brillante. After years of planning, the community made its debut in 2020 after billionaire Jacksonville Jaguars proprietor Shahid “Shad” Khan signed on as a associate.

The Tallahassee, FL-based community initially launched in about 33 million households by way of cable and satellite tv for pc and ultimately bought to 50 million households. However a number of experiences indicated it couldn’t meet payroll obligations this week and would start airing outdated programming for the subsequent few weeks earlier than leaving the air altogether.

Final 12 months, BNC initiated a serious revamp, including a brand new morning present in addition to notable on-air commentators like Charles Blow and Marc Lamont Hill.

For all cable programmers, the wages of cord-cutting are persevering with to make life tough. As rankings maintain declining, so does income from promoting and distribution. Whereas money circulation is wholesome for a lot of well-entrenched networks, newer ones have turn out to be susceptible. Massive media corporations like Disney, NBCUniversal and Paramount World have began to cull their portfolios, discontinuing a few of their less-robust networks.

The top for BNC was reported simply hours after the corporate was celebrating success with the Supreme Court docket nomination hearings. A tweet from the community’s official deal with, which is pinned to the highest of its feed, notes an “all-time viewership report,” including, “THANK YOU ! Let’s Hold the momentum going – watch quarter-hour each day!”