In a 2014 JBHE post, we reported that historically Black Florida A&M University in Tallahassee has entered into a 11-year partnership to be the home of the Black Television News Channel. In March of this year, the university and the owners of the new network held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 100,000-square-foot Graphic Communication facility on the Florida A&M campus.
Now the whole deal has been scrapped. Bob Brillante, co-managing partner of the new venture with former Oklahoma Congressman J.C. Watts, told the Tallahassee Democrat that “the space originally allocated to provide operations for the Black Television New Channel will be occupied by students and not available for construction.”
Larry Robinson, interim president of Florida A&M University, issued a statement that read in part: “There is a process established by the Florida A&M University Board of Trustees and Florida Board of Governors that must be followed when it comes to major renovations to state funded facilities. We have a responsibility to meet the procedures and processes required by the FAMU Board of Trustees and Florida Board of Governors.”
The Black Television New Channel now plans to construct another facility in the Tallahassee area.
