Tallahassee, Fl.-based Black News Channel (BNC) has permanently shut down just two years after its inception.
According to reports, the channel’s chief executive, Princell Hair, released a statement saying it has come to an end.
“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,” Hair wrote in a letter to staff on Friday, Mar. 25.
“Effective immediately, BNC will cease live production and file for bankruptcy.”
The network began broadcasting old programming that day, which would last through the rest of March. Its shutdown reportedly left 230 employees jobless and without pay.
However, the board of Black News Channel said payments would arrive soon.
“Arrangements have been made for the company to pay all earned but unpaid wages to laid-off employees,” they said.
BNC was initially created to provide news from the Black American perspective, its chief executive also wrote in his letter to staff.
“A little more than two years ago, the lights on BNC’s cameras flipped on for the first time. Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, we launched a groundbreaking mission to inject positive change into a news landscape that, for far too long, had underserved and overlooked Black and Brown people.”
The news outlet, launched on Feb. 10, 2020, was co-founded by TV executive Bob Brillante and former Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts. In 2021, its lineup was revamped with high-profile reporters such as Marc Lamont Hill and Charles Blow.
Its majority stakeholder, Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, had been financially backing the channel since its inception but eventually decided that he would no longer invest any further. After investing $50 million in BNC, he called it quits.
Lamont Hill took to Twitter to express his frustration towards the businessman, claiming he didn’t want to pay employees after filing bankruptcy.
“The real exclusive is that he’s refusing to give people their paychecks today,” he wrote. “Hundreds of employees, many of whom already took significant pay cuts, are now being denied money they’ve already worked for. Khan, a BILLIONAIRE, simply says he doesn’t want to pay it.”
The real exclusive is that he’s refusing to give people their paychecks today. Hundreds of employees, many of whom already took significant pay cuts, are now being denied money they’ve already worked for. Khan, a BILLIONAIRE, simply says he doesn’t want to pay it. https://t.co/fhqbbKb5mN
— Marc Lamont Hill (@marclamonthill) March 25, 2022
A spokesman for Mr. Khan had no comment.
Mike Hill, an anchor on BNC’s daily weekday morning news show, Start Your Day With Sharon, and Mike expressed that he was surprised the network shut down in such a short amount of time. He didn’t see it coming so quickly despite warning signs, including layoffs in December and an email about delayed paychecks.
BREAKING NEWS: Black News Channel @BNCNews staffers are angry and demanding answers after getting an email yesterday that their paychecks are being delayed. I have been inundated with phone calls, texts and emails from staffers on this issue. @bnc_ceo Princell Hair told me 1/5 pic.twitter.com/nxietWo7bf
— rolandsmartin (@rolandsmartin) March 25, 2022
“Like any other startup network, there were bumps along the way, but we were overcoming them,” Mr. Hill said. “Hopefully, something comes around like this again, and hopefully it gets the marketing it needs, the attention it needs, and the viewership it needs.”
With Hair as their leader, BNC reportedly reached 50 million households, as they scored distribution deals with most pay-TV providers, including Dish Network, DirecTV, and Comcast Corp.
According to Nielsen data, the network brought in under 10,000 viewers.
