Black Information Channel — which shut down functions on Friday, just two decades after earning a splashy debut — has submitted for Chapter 11 personal bankruptcy in Florida.
In its Monday submitting, the Tallahassee-dependent network listed $10 million-$50 million in liabilities, and approximated in between 200 and 999 lenders are owed revenue.
“They filed for personal bankruptcy speedier than they compensated their staff members the funds they are owed,” a person previous worker advised TheWrap on Tuesday. “I gained a partial payment this early morning for two weeks of operate. They nonetheless owe me for a different week.”
That previous staffer was a person of approximately 230 who had been enable go past Friday when the channel ceased functions the community designs to air repeats for the rest of this thirty day period.
The channel, regarded to viewers as BNC, was established by previous GOP congressman J.C. Watts and veteran broadcast govt Bob Brillante with a mission to provide information for and about underserved communities. Just months right after the start in February 2020, Brillante was ousted and Princell Hair joined BNC as CEO in the fall of 2020. Hair additional several several hours of every day are living programming, eventually released a quick-lived streaming channel, and employed hundreds of staff members.
The using the services of spree arrived as Shad Khan, the billionaire operator of the Jacksonville Jaguars, injected a documented $50 million dollars into the community and grew to become the principal investor. Irrespective of the infusion of hard cash, insiders instructed TheWrap minor of it was applied for promoting. As a substitute, BNC’s management group looked to the media to get the word out, which include the Tallahassee Democrat, which in September 2021 revealed a profile of Hair with the headline: “Black News Channel thriving less than new President and CEO Princell Hair.”
Twelve months later on — in December 2021 — the network began laying off dozens of staff.
BNC was also hit with a course-motion lawsuit filed by 13 former and current woman employees alleging discrimination and a “sexist” workplace (executives denied the accusations).
A Nielsen scores examination compiled by TheWrap found of 124 cable information channels in 2021, BNC came in 123rd with an common of 4,000 viewers on any presented display. Fox Information was No. 1 with an ordinary 2.361 million primetime viewers each and every night.
Last Thursday, the network’s human means department despatched out an e-mail indicating workers would not be paid out as scheduled the next working day. “The March 25 payroll deposit will be delayed. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this might result in,” explained the memo from human methods VP, Nicole Collins. “We are actively working to solve this subject quickly, and will suggest you with an update as quickly as feasible.”
On March 25, BNC staffers discovered the channel had attained the conclusion of its journey. As personnel ended up notified by cellphone that the channel was ceasing functions, Hair sent out a memo to staffers stating he was “saddened and disappointed.”
“During the previous number of months, we have endured extremely distressing workforce reductions at all stages of the community as we labored to achieve our monetary goal of a crack-even company. This has compelled all of you to do a lot more with considerably less, and your contributions have been impressive,” Hair stated in the memo obtained by TheWrap. “Unfortunately, because of to complicated marketplace conditions and world fiscal pressures, we have been unable to meet up with our fiscal objectives, and the timeline afforded to us has run out.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.
