Black Family Channel

Last updated

Black Family Channel
CountryUnited States
Ownership
OwnerMajor Broadcasting Corporation
History
Launched1999;26 years ago (1999)
ClosedApril 30, 2007;17 years ago (April 30, 2007)
Former namesMBC (Major Broadcasting Cable) Network

Black Family Channel (launched in 1999 as MBC Network) was an American cable television network which featured programming aimed at African-American audiences. The network's schedule included a variety of programs including religious programs, sports, music, talk shows, and children's programs. During much of the time of its existence, it was the only fully black-owned and operated cable television network (BET was bought by Viacom in 2001, and TV One was owned by Comcast and Radio One at the time) in the United States.

Contents

The network was started by noted Florida attorney and philanthropist Willie E. Gary, former all-star baseball player Cecil Fielder, four-time heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield, Marlon Jackson of The Jackson 5, and broadcast television veteran Alvin James through their business venture Major Broadcasting Corporation. [1]

The channel started off as Major Broadcasting Cable (MBC) Network. The name was rebranded Black Family Channel on October 1, 2004 in hopes that it would better identify the channel's content. [2]

BFC would effectively be run by actor/director Robert Townsend, who developed original programming for the network, including its most notable effort—the children's educational game show, Thousand Dollar Bee, in which every kid would participate in sort of tournament rounds of spelling challenges toward which the champion would receive a $1,000 bond for their college education.

Unlike its primary rival, the Viacom-owned BET, Black Family Channel avoided rap and hip hop-based programming (they showed gospel music instead). [3] The network was available in up to 16 million households in the United States.

In June 2006, the channel started airing Total Television's King Leonardo and his Short Subjects and Looney Tunes shorts in the public domain. [4]

On April 24, 2007, BFC announced that they would cease as a cable channel, effective April 30, 2007, as part of a deal in which BFC's programming and subscriber base would be sold to the Gospel Music Channel. [5] On May 1, 2007, the deal was closed.

The station was an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative. [6]

Over-the-air coverage

Formerly, the network was also carried on two low-power television stations, W23BC serving the Jackson, MS media market, and WRCX-LP, which serves the Dayton, Ohio area. W23BC has since affiliated with Colours TV and (more recently) America One. WRCX has since affiliated with Ion Television.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VH1</span> American cable television network

VH1 is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the BET Media Group subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group based in New York City. The network was originally owned by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment; a division of Warner Communications, and the original owner of then-sister channel MTV at the time. It was launched in the channel space of Turner Broadcasting System's short-lived Cable Music Channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BET</span> American basic cable channel owned by Paramount

Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched as a USA Network programming block on January 25, 1980, BET would eventually become a full-fledged channel on July 1, 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Network</span> American television channel

Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paramount Media Networks</span> American cable television division of Paramount Global

Paramount Media Networks is the division of Paramount Global that oversees the operations of its television channels and online brands. The division was originally founded as MTV Networks in 1984, named after the MTV cable network. It would be known under this name until 2011; when it would be thereafter known as Viacom Media Networks until 2019; and ViacomCBS Domestic Media Networks until 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Flix (TV network)</span> American movie-oriented pay television network

Flix is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by Showtime Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global operated through its Paramount Media Networks division. Its programming consists solely of theatrically released motion pictures released from the 1970s to the present day, interspersed with some films from the 1950s and 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BET Her</span> American pay television channel

BET Her is an American basic cable television network currently owned by the BET Media Group subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WBKI (TV)</span> TV station in Salem, Indiana

WBKI is a television station licensed to Salem, Indiana, United States, serving the Louisville, Kentucky, area as a dual affiliate of The CW and MyNetworkTV. It is the only full-power Louisville-area station licensed to the Indiana side of the market. WBKI is owned by Block Communications alongside Fox affiliate WDRB. Both stations share studios on West Muhammad Ali Boulevard in downtown Louisville, while WBKI's transmitter is located in rural northeastern Floyd County, Indiana. Despite Salem being WBKI's city of license, the station maintains no physical presence there.

WUPL is a television station licensed to Slidell, Louisiana, United States, serving the New Orleans area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside CBS affiliate WWL-TV. The two stations share studios on Rampart Street in the historic French Quarter district; WUPL's transmitter is located on Cooper Road in Terrytown, Louisiana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WTCN-CD</span> Class A TV station in Palm Beach, Florida

WTCN-CD is a low-power, Class A television station licensed to Palm Beach, Florida, United States, serving the West Palm Beach area as an affiliate of MyNetworkTV. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside CBS affiliate WPEC, CW affiliate WTVX, and Class A TBD owned-and-operated station WWHB-CD. The stations share studios on Fairfield Drive in Mangonia Park ; WTCN-CD's transmitter is located southwest of Hobe Sound, Florida.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">All News Channel</span> Former American satellite television news channel

All News Channel (ANC) was an American satellite television news channel and broadcast syndication service operated as a joint venture between Viacom and CONUS Communications, itself a division of Hubbard Broadcasting. Launched on November 30, 1989 and operating until September 30, 2002, its format consisted of half-hourly rotating newscasts presented in a rolling news wheel schedule, incorporating story packages gathered from in-house reporting staffs and sourced from local television stations that maintained agreements with CONUS to supply content for the cooperative satellite news video-sharing service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">HBO</span> American pay television network

Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television network, which is the flagship property of Home Box Office, Inc., which is a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based at 30 Hudson Yards in Manhattan. Programming featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television programs as well as made-for-cable movies, documentaries, occasional comedy, and concert specials, and periodic interstitial programs. HBO is a sister channel to Cinemax.

WRCX-LD is a low-power independent television station in Dayton, Ohio, United States. The station is owned by Ross Communications, Ltd., and its transmitter is located on Gettysburg Avenue south of Dayton.

Tempo Networks is a pan-Caribbean television channel focusing on Caribbean music and cultural content. Its programming encompasses music videos, news, dramas, and documentaries showcasing various aspects of Caribbean life. The channel features musical genres like Reggae, Soca, Dancehall, and more. The programming is primarily presented in English.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MTV Tres</span> American cable, satellite and over-the-air network

MTV Tres is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks, a subsidiary of Paramount Global.

CBS News and Stations is a division of the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global that owns and operates a group of American television stations along with CBS News. As of January 2021, the division owns 28 stations: 14 are the core stations of the CBS television network, two are affiliates of The CW, eleven are independent stations, and one is a primary-channel affiliate of the digital subchannel network Start TV. It also maintains a half-interest in Start TV, which is co-owned with Weigel Broadcasting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BET Media Group</span> American cable television division of Paramount Global

Black Entertainment Television LLC is an American television company currently owned by American media conglomerate Paramount Global under its CBS Entertainment unit. Founded by Robert L. Johnson in 1983, the holding was bought by the first incarnation of Viacom in 2001. BET owns networks aimed at African Americans, including BET, VH1, and their related sister channels. It also operates BET+, with Robert L. Johnson also founding AMC Networks-owned ALLBLK. BET broadcasts the BET Awards to celebrate Black entertainers and other minorities. In 2024, Skydance Media reached an agreement with Paramount to acquire and merge with the company, and spin off assets "not strategic" to their plans, including BET.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viacom (1952–2005)</span> American media conglomerate (1952–2005)

The original phase of Viacom Inc. was an American mass media and entertainment conglomerate based in New York City. It began as CBS Television Film Sales, the broadcast syndication division of the CBS television network in 1952; it was renamed CBS Films in 1958, renamed CBS Enterprises in 1968, renamed Viacom in 1970, and spun off into its own company in 1971. Viacom was a distributor of CBS television series throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and also distributed syndicated television programs. The company came under Sumner Redstone's control in 1987 through his cinema chain company National Amusements.

Paramount Global is an American multinational entertainment conglomerate that was the subject of criticisms and controversies about its products and services. Criticism of Paramount Global has included the former Viacom Inc.'s announced plans of looking into splitting the company into two publicly traded companies. The company was not only dealing with a stagnating stock price, but also the rivalry between Leslie Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of MTV Networks. In addition, the company was facing issues after MTV was banned from producing any more Super Bowl halftime shows after the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy in 2004.

References

  1. ↑ McGee, Sherri (November 1, 1999). "Broadcasting the Gospel". Black Enterprise. BlackEnterprise.com. Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
  2. ↑ Harris, Hamil (September 2004). "MBC Network Changes Name To Black Family Channel". Black Enterprise. BlackEnterprise.com. Retrieved September 1, 2004.
  3. ↑ Downey, Kevin. "Slow Build for Black Family Channel". Broadcasting & Cable. BroadcastingCable.com. Retrieved February 10, 2006.
  4. ↑ Beck, Jerry (July 30, 2006). "King Leonardo on Black Family Channel". Cartoon Brew .
  5. ↑ Moss, Linda. "Black Family Channel-Gospel Music Channel Deal Is Official". Multichannel News. Multichannel.com. Retrieved May 1, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Territory and Co-op Channels". Caribbean Cable Cooperative. CCTVCoop.com. Archived from the original on August 16, 2011. Retrieved 24 November 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.