Black Family Channel shutting down cable operation for move to the Internet
 
By Eve Samples
Palm Beach Post
(April 26, 2007) To tune into the Black Family Channel, the cable network founded eight years ago by Stuart lawyer Willie Gary, viewers will soon need a mouse instead of a remote control.

Gary said Wednesday that he and other owners are finalizing a deal that will move the channel and its programming to broadband, where people will be able to watch shows on their own schedules.

The exception: the channel's several gospel music programs will start airing on another cable network, the Atlanta-based Gospel Music Channel.

"It's the best strategy in these days and times," Gary said. "I'm just convinced that pretty soon people are going to be watching television from a cellphone. That's just the way it's going to be. They're going to be watching what they want to watch, as opposed to what's forced on them."

Many cable and broadcast networks are using the Internet to supplement their TV shows, but it's rare for a channel to completely migrate to broadband, said Scott Sleek, director of broadband advisory services at Pike & Fischer, a Silver Spring, Md.-based business and legal analysis firm.

"This would not surprise me though, if it's struggling to get an audience," Sleek said after learning of the Black Family Channel's plans.

"Moving to broadband allows them to get out of the ratings game, so they don't necessarily have to worry about sweeps week and so forth."

The Atlanta-based Black Family Channel, which has about 16 million viewers, has not been profitable in its cable form.

On broadband, the channel can have a more targeted approach to advertising and more accurately track viewers, Sleek said. Plus, the advent of products such as Apple Inc.'s Apple TV will soon make it easier for people to watch Internet-based content on their televisions.

The Black Family Channel, which is aired locally on Comcast's digital Channel 246 , has been working on the deal since December, Gary said. It was originally expected to close Friday, but may take longer.

Comcast spokesman Reg Griffin said the company had no official word about Black Family Channel's switch.

"As far as the transition that's going on there, we've only heard rumors," Griffin said Wednesday.

Two celebrity co-owners, heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield and former major leaguer Cecil Fielder, will remain. Time Warner and Comcast also will have equity in the venture, as will Gospel Music Channel founder Charley Humbard, Gary said.

Millions of dollars are changing hands as part of the arrangement, Gary said, but he would not reveal the specific terms. Some of the Black Family Channel's employees may move to the Gospel Music Channel.

When Gary founded the Black Family Channel, he planned to provide African-American families with an alternative to the violence and sex found on many cable channels.

The new format won't shift that goal, he said.

"It doesn't change a thing. Our mission is still out there - we're just getting smart," Gary said. "Broadband doesn't have any competition at this point."


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