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Originally posted by Confucius
BET is trash, I don't watch it anymore. It is obvious that the people who have the power to change the content will not! I wish that someone or a group of people would develop another black channel.
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Soror, I heard somewhere that Major Broadcasting Co. was going to launch a news/public affairs channel aimed at African Americans. Interesting story, but I wonder if they can get the capital they need to operate a strong operation. All-news operations are expensive because of the technology involved and the people involved.
Here's the story:
By DAVID BAUDER, AP Television Writer
NEW YORK - An Atlanta-based cable company said Tuesday it plans to launch a 24-hour news channel aimed at black viewers late this year or early in 2004.
Major Broadcasting Cable Network, best known for airing the football and basketball games of black colleges, will call its new sister network "MBC News: The Urban Voice."
The plans were announced two months after the much more established Black Entertainment Television announced a sharp cutback in its public affairs programming. Willie Gary, a principal of MBC, said the timing is coincidental.
"We didn't plan it that way," Gary said. "But clearly, it's a void there from the African-American perspective that we will be filling."
MBC News will be modeled after CNN Headline News, and has hired former CNN newsman Gordon Graham. It will show news, sports and weather reports on a 30-minute "wheel," with occasional other programming.
With limited room for more channels on cable systems, the news network will face an uphill battle to survive. The 4-year-old main MBC network claims it is seen in 24 million homes — less than a quarter of the nation's TV households. MBC isn't available in New York, but can be seen in Chicago, Los Angeles, Detroit and Houston.
MBC News won't restrict itself to black issues, said Gary, who is joined on the network's board by fighter Evander Holyfield, entertainer Marlon Jackson and former baseball star Cecil Fielder.
"While we'll be talking about Iraq, we'll also be talking about some important stories that will be going on in the urban market," Gary said. "With another channel, you might not get that on a daily basis."
BET disappointed some black viewers in December by canceling the interview program "BET Tonight with Ed Gordon," on which former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott appeared to express contrition over racially insensitive remarks about Strom Thurmond. The Sunday morning show "Lead Story" and public affairs program "Teen Summit" were also axed.
BET reported this week that its ratings in January were the highest in the network's 23-year history.
Debra Lee, BET's president, said she doubts that an all-news channel aimed at blacks can be successful. People admire public affairs programming but don't necessarily watch it, she said. And building a news network is expensive, she added, one reason that BET is partners with fellow Viacom-owned CBS News for some programming.
"I think it's interesting," Lee said. "I just don't know how they make it work."
Major Broadcasting, which once emphasized its connection to gospel music, renounces sex and violence in its programming. Its Web site calls MBC "Your Family's Urban Television Network."
BET, meanwhile, has been criticized for airing salacious music videos and comedies.
But could a faith-based philosophy lead MBC News to pull its punches in news coverage?
Gary said he would not be interested in showing pictures, for example, of a shooting in a black community. But he said, "We're not going to censor the news. With the news you have to call it the way you see it."
MBC would not say how many journalists would be brought on. The network will save money by sharing personnel with a Tallahassee, Fla.-based cable news network, said programming director Travis Mitchell.
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