Black News Channel is here to shake things up!
The platform has just expanded its reach more than 20-fold in the past seven months, reports The Wall Street Journal.
This growth comes as a result of its new chief executive’s plan to shake up the cable-TV news landscape by providing an alternative that looks through the lens of Black Americans.
After taking over in July 2020, Chief Executive Princell Hair has struck distribution with AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV, Dish Network Corp., Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity, and others. This has boosted its potential audience from roughly 2.5 million to more than 52 million households.
“We’re standing on the forefront of a tremendous opportunity when you look at the stories of the past year: the pandemic, the George Floyd murder and the ensuing civil unrest, a very contentious presidential election, record unemployment, and all of these stories disproportionately impact Black and brown communities,” said Mr. Hair in an interview. “These are the stories that we have to get out.”
He has also led a revamp of the network’s lineup, tapping high-profile talent — like Marc Lamont Hill and Charles Blow — who will lead shows that provide both coverage and analysis that they believe Black Americans aren’t getting anywhere else.
A TV veteran, Mr. Hair has held roles at CNN, CBS, Turner Broadcasting, and NBC Sports. After commissioning research and analysis to find what would attract viewers, he found that Black Americans feel underserved when it comes to news coverage choices.
From there, the rest is history and the Black News Channel is on its way to becoming a news source that Black Americans can trust.
