In 2014, it was announced that The School of Journalism and Graphic Communication at 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.
Recently, the university and the owners of the new network recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 100,000-square-foot Graphic Communication facility on the Florida A&M campus. The new center will include a media training for aspiring multimedia and visual communicators for students at Florida A&M University and other historically Black colleges and universities.
Congressman Al Lawson of Florida, an alumnus of Florida A&M University, stated that “for the first time, people will be able to tune into the Black Television News Channel and watch what is happening in America through another dimension and another story. Where else better for it to start than here at FAMU.”
The new network is scheduled to begin broadcasting in February 2018. The channel has a distribution deal with Charter Communications that will bring the Black Television News Channel into 33 million homes through the company’s cable networks. Additional content distribution contracts have been made with DirectTV and the Dish Network.