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Comcast, Radio One join up on black TV network
BY BILL BERGSTROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA ? Comcast, the nation?s largest cable television company, and Radio One Inc. said Monday that they have agreed to create a television network targeted toward black viewers.
The network will carry entertainment, news, opinion and sports programming. It would compete with Black Entertainment Television, founded in 1980 by billionaire Robert Johnson and bought by Viacom in 2000.
"African-Americans have had only one dedicated TV channel serving their interests for over 20 years," Alfred Liggins, chief executive officer and president of black-oriented Radio One, said Monday. "The reality is that this marketplace can support more than one good idea.
"My own personal belief is that you try to offer what?s not being offered, so this will be a complement to BET... and be very different from it," said Liggins, who will be chairman of the new network.
The companies said they expect the network, aimed mainly at black viewers from 25 to 54 years old, to be on the air later this year.
Brian Roberts, Comcast?s president and chief executive of- ficer, said the new channel would be offered in a "significant number" of Comcast?s systems and the companies also would seek to make it available on other cable and satellite systems.
"Comcast serves 21 of the top 25 U.S. markets, where 50 percent of African-Americans reside," Roberts said.
Comcast provides cable TV service for 87,000 customers in central Arkansas. Company spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick said it had not been decided which markets would first offer the channel.
Though Comcast could try to remove BET from its cable systems, the company has "no plans to change the lineup as far as BET is concerned," Fitzpatrick said.
Debra Lee, president and chief operating officer of Washington-based BET, said it reached 75 million homes and that other attempts to compete with it have struggled.
"BET recognized more than 22 years ago the importance of the African-American audience, and has been very successful at delivering the kind of music, entertainment, news, sports, documentaries, cinema and specials that African-Americans want to see," Lee said in a statement.
Comcast and Radio One said their new network would be designed to appeal to what they said was the underserved black demographic group, which makes up 13 percent of the population.
The combined income of blacks in the United States has far outpaced inflation, increasing from $138 billion in 1981 to $602 billion in 2001, said Ken Smikle of Target Market News in Chicago.
Radio One will invest $70 million in the new network, which hasn?t been named, with an additional $60 million coming from Comcast and other investors, the companies said.
Philadelphia-based Comcast, which has more than 20 million subscribers nationwide, owns major stakes in several cable networks, including the QVC shopping network, E! Entertainment Television, the Golf Channel and regional sports networks.
Radio One, based in Lanham, Md., owns 66 radio stations in 22 urban markets.
BY BILL BERGSTROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA ? Comcast, the nation?s largest cable television company, and Radio One Inc. said Monday that they have agreed to create a television network targeted toward black viewers.
The network will carry entertainment, news, opinion and sports programming. It would compete with Black Entertainment Television, founded in 1980 by billionaire Robert Johnson and bought by Viacom in 2000.
"African-Americans have had only one dedicated TV channel serving their interests for over 20 years," Alfred Liggins, chief executive officer and president of black-oriented Radio One, said Monday. "The reality is that this marketplace can support more than one good idea.
"My own personal belief is that you try to offer what?s not being offered, so this will be a complement to BET... and be very different from it," said Liggins, who will be chairman of the new network.
The companies said they expect the network, aimed mainly at black viewers from 25 to 54 years old, to be on the air later this year.
Brian Roberts, Comcast?s president and chief executive of- ficer, said the new channel would be offered in a "significant number" of Comcast?s systems and the companies also would seek to make it available on other cable and satellite systems.
"Comcast serves 21 of the top 25 U.S. markets, where 50 percent of African-Americans reside," Roberts said.
Comcast provides cable TV service for 87,000 customers in central Arkansas. Company spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick said it had not been decided which markets would first offer the channel.
Though Comcast could try to remove BET from its cable systems, the company has "no plans to change the lineup as far as BET is concerned," Fitzpatrick said.
Debra Lee, president and chief operating officer of Washington-based BET, said it reached 75 million homes and that other attempts to compete with it have struggled.
"BET recognized more than 22 years ago the importance of the African-American audience, and has been very successful at delivering the kind of music, entertainment, news, sports, documentaries, cinema and specials that African-Americans want to see," Lee said in a statement.
Comcast and Radio One said their new network would be designed to appeal to what they said was the underserved black demographic group, which makes up 13 percent of the population.
The combined income of blacks in the United States has far outpaced inflation, increasing from $138 billion in 1981 to $602 billion in 2001, said Ken Smikle of Target Market News in Chicago.
Radio One will invest $70 million in the new network, which hasn?t been named, with an additional $60 million coming from Comcast and other investors, the companies said.
Philadelphia-based Comcast, which has more than 20 million subscribers nationwide, owns major stakes in several cable networks, including the QVC shopping network, E! Entertainment Television, the Golf Channel and regional sports networks.
Radio One, based in Lanham, Md., owns 66 radio stations in 22 urban markets.
