[US] Black News Channel shut down days after hitting ratings high

In the US, The Black News Channel (BNC) has been forced to pull the plug after the 2-year-old network failed to meet payroll and lost the backing of its biggest investor, Fortune reports.

Princell Hair - BNC's president and CEO - told employees in a March 25 memo that the news network was ceasing live production and would file for bankruptcy. BNC was available in around 50 million homes with cable and satellite but had failed to grow its viewership.

The network was founded in 2020 by former GOP congressman J.C. Watts. It hired more than 250 Black journalists and production personnel last year in a relaunch following an investment by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.

However the media venture was consistently losing money, despite two rounds of layoffs, and Mr Khan reportedly took the decision to stop investing in it further. It is currently three weeks short of payroll, a company spokesman said.

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

The end came just as BNC recorded its biggest audience ever last week for its live coverage of the Judiciary Committee hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Mr 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.”

Establishing a network is particularly tough at a time when consumers are spoilt for entertainment choices and many are cutting ties with their cable or satellite commitments.

“Remember that we built something great here,” Mr 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 broken by The Los Angeles Times.

On March 25 the National Association of Black Journalists said that it was looking at ways to help members who had been put out of work by the shutdown.

Source: Fortune

(Link and quotes via original reporting)

In the US, The Black News Channel (BNC) has been forced to pull the plug after the 2-year-old network failed to meet payroll and lost the backing of its biggest investor, Fortune reports.

Princell Hair - BNC's president and CEO - told employees in a March 25 memo that the news network was ceasing live production and would file for bankruptcy. BNC was available in around 50 million homes with cable and satellite but had failed to grow its viewership.

The network was founded in 2020 by former GOP congressman J.C. Watts. It hired more than 250 Black journalists and production personnel last year in a relaunch following an investment by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.

However the media venture was consistently losing money, despite two rounds of layoffs, and Mr Khan reportedly took the decision to stop investing in it further. It is currently three weeks short of payroll, a company spokesman said.

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

The end came just as BNC recorded its biggest audience ever last week for its live coverage of the Judiciary Committee hearing for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, Mr 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.”

Establishing a network is particularly tough at a time when consumers are spoilt for entertainment choices and many are cutting ties with their cable or satellite commitments.

“Remember that we built something great here,” Mr 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 broken by The Los Angeles Times.

On March 25 the National Association of Black Journalists said that it was looking at ways to help members who had been put out of work by the shutdown.

Source: Fortune

(Link and quotes via original reporting)