Former Critic Backs Johnson’s TV Network

ewiley — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:39:51 +0000

Bid BET founder Bob Johnson is getting props from an unlikely source as he seeks approval from the Federal Communications Commission for a new urban TV network, reports Richard Prince in his Journal-isms online column. The National Association of Black Journalists, which has been highly critical of Johnson in the past, says that African-American ownership is important. “We’re trying to expand the footprint of African American ownership,” NABJ President Barbara Ciara told Journal-isms. “Clearly, it’s an opportunity to negotiate with him to broaden the news landscape. I would like to think people will learn from their past.” BET, under Johnson’s leadership, was roundly criticized by NABJ on more than one occasion, as Prince notes. For example, seven years ago, “BET canceled just about the only black-oriented news shows on national television: ‘BET Tonight with Ed Gordon’; ‘Teen Summit,’ a public affairs program; and ‘Lead Story,’ a Sunday journalist roundtable that originated from Washington.” But, as BET President Debra Lee said at the time, “The decision to cancel them was made by Bob and myself. These shows were losing money” — to the tune of $3 million to $4 million a year — “and we could not find advertisers to support them. There came a day of reckoning.” In addition, Prince writes, “Johnson in 2000 pulled the plug on BET’s magazines, BET Weekend, a 1.3 million-circulation Sunday feature magazine, and the serious-minded Emerge, which claimed 170,000 subscribers. That left the network with a reputation for being interested only in showing jiggling music videos.” Speaking on Johnson’s plans last Friday, NABJ’s Executive Director Karen Wynn Freeman said, “This is not BET. It’s the ownership piece that we feel strongly about.” Johnson will call his new enterprise Urban Television, LLC. He would like the FCC to give him permission “to share time on 42 stations owned by Ion Media Networks Inc., a successor to Pax TV, a family-oriented broadcast network that operated on several UHF channels,” according to journalisms. “Ion Media owns 49 percent of the venture; Johnson’s RLJ Companies, 51 percent.”

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Former Critic Backs Johnson’s TV Network