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Black News Channel has expanded its reach more than 20-fold in about seven months, part of its new chief executive’s ambitious plan to shake up the cable-TV news landscape and provide an alternative that looks through the lens of Black Americans.
Since he took over the channel last July, Chief Executive Princell Hair has struck distribution deals with Comcast Corp.’s Xfinity, AT&T Inc.’s DirecTV, Dish Network Corp. and others, boosting its potential audience to more than 52 million households from roughly 2.5 million.
Mr. Hair also led a revamp of the network’s lineup, signing high-profile commentators Charles Blow and Marc Lamont Hill, whose shows will provide coverage and analysis the network’s executives and newscasters believe Black Americans aren’t getting anywhere else.
“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,” Mr. Hair said in an interview. “These are the stories that we have to get out.”
When Mr. Hair, a TV veteran whose resume includes stints at CBS, CNN, Turner Broadcasting and NBC Sports, took the helm in July, he said he commissioned research and analysis to see what was needed to attract viewers. The research showed that Black Americans feel underserved with news coverage choices, and that the community is an untapped driver of economic growth.
“This is the right moment for Black News Channel,” said Shelvia Dancy, a journalism professor at Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. “So many news outlets are recognizing the need to expand their coverage, and many news departments are hiring people to cover race and social justice. I think people of all stripes are hungry for this and a channel that could do this, rather than one person on a news team.”
The network’s relaunch comes as cable-TV news becomes further fragmented, and audiences are divided among major networks such as CNN, Fox News and MSNBC. Recently, One America News Network and Newsmax, growing Fox News rivals, have widened their audiences. Last year, Nexstar Media Group Inc. launched NewsNation on the formerly known WGN-America with the promise of no-bias news coverage during prime-time hours.