Allen is obtaining the property of the Black News Channel after a chapter courtroom licensed his $11 million acquire. Within 10 mins of wiring the cash, Allen stated he modified the title of the station to theGrio — a West African time period for a storyteller.
Allen, who owns 36 TV stations and 12 cable networks, sought after the channel to be much more inclusive, together with its title.
“I never really quite thought it was a good idea, the Black News Channel,” Allen stated. “I don’t think we need the Black News Channel. I think we need a good news channel.”
The community has been a small startup that by no means ranked top in rankings, CNN’s leader media correspondent Brian Stelter stated on “Reliable Sources” Sunday, but it surely was once “producing some great work.”
Allen stated the revived channel will center of attention on way of life, leisure, information and sports activities. The channel will paintings with Historically Black Colleges and Universities to license greater than 2,000 in their carrying occasions that can air on theGrio.
“That’s going to help us to amplify the sporting events,” Allen stated. “And to help educate these kids at those schools.”
Allen wired there is not sufficient range of possession within the media business — and it’s not simply the Black neighborhood that is underrepresented.
“Women don’t own these networks and they don’t control their image and their likeness and how they’re produced and depicted,” Allen stated. “Asian people are pretty much nonexistent in the media landscape in terms of how we’re depicting them or even seeing. A lot of the Spanish language networks are owned by people who don’t even speak Spanish.”
And we will be able to’t make certain a “true democracy” till all of those communities have their voices heard, Allen stated.
He added that startups just like the Black News Channel want extra improve from Corporate America. Although main networks regularly soak up greater than a thousand million bucks a yr from cable subscription charges, the Black News Channel won 0. Allen additionally stated the channel’s promoting earnings was once not up to $2 million.
“That means the chairman and CEO of every Fortune 500 company, their personal compensation, was more than all of the advertising on the Black News Channel,” Allen stated.