It's a start
It was almost a toss-up for the quote of note:
Begun in 1999 as the Major Broadcasting Cable network, Black Family Channel will keep elements of the gospel programming that was part of its original mission. Music programs and documentaries also remain in place.
Following a plan of adding programming blocks, the channel was launching five new Thursday night shows this week. An "urban kids programming block" of three new daytime shows debuted last Saturday.
Among the new series: a talk show about teenage issues; a series celebrating spoken-word artists; and "Souled Out," a critical look at the messages in music videos.
The channel also plans to reinstate and increase its coverage of football games at historically black colleges, temporarily dropped while the new schedule was developed.
I picked this one because I want this venture to succeed. Wildly. I get the sense they still need work, but it's just starting out. This and Radio One's buying a controlling interest in Tom Joyner's media company maybe be the beginning of something.
Or maybe not. See the second quote of note below the fold.
Black Family Channel Starts 8 New Shows
Revamped Black Family Channel Starts Slate of Eight New Programs That Keep Values in Mind
The Associated Press
Nov. 24, 2004 - Robert Townsend first caught the film industry's eye with 1987's "Hollywood Shuffle," a clever satire about black actors trapped in demeaning roles. Now he wants the country to pay attention to what he calls a new kind of television, entertaining but with a sense of responsibility, especially toward young black Americans.
Black Family Channel, which Townsend joined as president and chief executive officer of production five months ago, is starting an ambitious slate of eight new programs geared for children, teenagers and families.
"With this network, we want to give people a sense of quality, integrity programming that speaks to them," Townsend said. "We don't want to be an old-school network where people don't want to tune in, but we want to get back to some of those old-fashioned values."
He cites Bill Cosby as an inspiration, both for Cosby's groundbreaking '80s sitcom and for his provocative argument that black youth is being undermined by factors including poor parenting and attitudes toward language.
"Everything that Bill Cosby is saying about families working together ... (that) we've got to reprogram these kids and we've got to shake it up, that's what we're doing," Townsend told The Associated Press.
It's as big a change for the channel as it is for Townsend, who moves from writing, directing, acting and producing to steering a rare minority-owned and operated TV channel (co-founders include boxer Evander Holyfield, baseball's Cecil Fielder and attorney Willie E. Gary.)
The major competitor is BET, Black Entertainment Television, owned by media giant Viacom Inc. and criticized in the past for giving viewers more music programming flash than substance.
