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| FAMU President Elmira Mangum with fmr. Rep. J.C. Watts, Sen.
Bill Nelson, and Sen. Marco Rubio |
“Our partnership with the Black Television News Channel is
an exciting opportunity to bring more diverse stories to our community,” said
Mangum. “We’re seeking the help of Congress to support our start-up efforts by
providing a waiver.”
The FCC regulates interstate and international communication
by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable in all 50 states, the District
of Columbia and U.S. territories. An independent U.S. government agency
overseen by Congress, the commission is the United States’ primary authority
for communications law, regulation and technological innovation. The FCC
collects regulatory fees and processing fees. Congress authorizes its authority
to impose and collect such fees.
Mangum met with Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Bill Nelson (D-FL) to discuss the channel and the need for a waiver. Other members of the FAMU leadership, including Ann Wead Kimbrough, dean of the FAMU School of Journalism & Graphic Communication, also met with Rep. Steve Southerland (R-FL), FCC Commissioners and their staffs.
In May, BTNC asked the FCC for a temporary waiver of the
commission’s requirement that programmers using its direct broadcast satellite
(DBS) on the “noncommercial education” channel, be prohibited from selling
advertising. BTNC plans to reduce by half its commercials and also include two
minutes per hour to promote historically black colleges and universities
(HBCUs).
“The university’s collaboration with BTNC is integral to the
sustained success of SJGC’s stellar record in providing relevant,
state-of-the-art training to rising multimedia journalists and visual
communicators,” said Kimbrough. “The BTNC initiative with FAMU will help to
improve sorely needed information and educational programming to a targeted
audience.”
The Center for Economic Forecasting and Analysis at Florida
State University conducted an in-depth study on the economic impact that BTNC
will have on FAMU’s campus and the Tallahassee community. The study determined
that BTNC would generate $33.6 million annually in economic stimulus for the
region. BTNC will also create 109 new jobs in Tallahassee, paying 150 percent
greater than the Capital cities’ average.
Over the last two decades 18 black-owned and operated full-power
television networks that have ceased to exist. BTNC aims to fill that void as
the only cable television network in the U.S. fully-dedicated to broadcasting
news that will be culturally specific to the African American community. The
mission of BTNC is to produce programming that is informative, educational,
entertaining, inspiring and empowering to the black viewing audience.