Two years after its launch, the Black News Channel is shutting down. Though it was beginning to flourish during the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice nominee Ketanji Brown, the network suffered from a lack of viewership. The Los Angeles Times has reported that Black News Channel pulled in an average of 10,000 viewers or fewer. When the issue of viewership was raised, BNC owner Shad Khan attempted to sell the network to Entertainment Studios, but a potential deal fell through.
Employees of the network were notified of the shut down on Thursday. After learning of the shut down, The Hill says that employees were “angry and surprised” by the announcement. Making matters worse, employees will reportedly not be compensated for their final two weeks of work.
“The real exclusive is that he’s refusing to give people their paychecks today. Hundreds of employees, many of whom already took significant pay cuts, are now being denied money they’ve already worked for. Khan, a billionaire, simply says he doesn’t want to pay it,” Black News Channel Host Dr. Marc Lamont Hill tweeted.
At this time, it is unclear if or when BNC will issue a formal statement regarding the shut down.
