Black Family Channel


Black Family Channel was an American cable television network which featured programming aimed at African-American audiences. The network's schedule included a variety of programs including religious programs, sports, music, talk shows, and children's programs. During much of the time of its existence, it was the only fully Black-owned and operated American cable television network.
The network was started by noted Florida attorney and philanthropist Willie E. Gary, former all-star baseball player Cecil Fielder, four-time heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield, Marlon Jackson of The Jackson 5, and broadcast television veteran Alvin James through their business venture Major Broadcasting Corporation.
The channel started off as Major Broadcasting Cable Network. The name was rebranded Black Family Channel on October 1, 2004 in hopes that it would better identify the channel's content.
BFC would effectively be run by actor/director Robert Townsend, who developed original programming for the network, including its most notable effort—the children's educational game show, Thousand Dollar Bee, in which every kid would participate in sort of tournament rounds of spelling challenges toward which the champion would receive a $1,000 bond for his or her college education.
Unlike its primary rival, the Viacom-owned BET, Black Family Channel avoided rap and hip hop-based programming. The network was available in up to 16 million households in the US.
On April 24, 2007, BFC announced that they would cease as a cable channel, effective April 30, 2007, as part of a deal in which BFC's programming and subscriber base would be sold to the Gospel Music Channel. On May 1, 2007, the deal was closed.
The station was an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.

Over-the-air coverage

The network was also carried on two low-power television stations, W23BC serving the media market, and WRCX-LP, which serves the area. W23BC has since affiliated with Colours TV and America One. WRCX has since affiliated with Ion Television.