Black News Channel


The Black News Channel is an American broadcast television news channel targeting the African American demographic. The channel is based in Tallahassee, Florida, and launched on February 10, 2020. The station was co-founded by television executive Bob Brillante and former congressman J.C. Watts; Watts is its inaugural chairman. Spectrum, Charter, Xfinity and Dish will carry the network.

History

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. 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; however, the channel eventually launched independently of the school, in a building on Killearn Center Boulevard in Tallahassee. The launch of the network was announced in November 2018 for 2019. The actual launch date was pushed from November 15, 2019 to January 6, 2020 before being pushed again to its eventual launch date, February 10, 2020.
One of the chief investors in the network is Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan.