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| Black Broadcast CEO Gains Two TV Stations In Local Viewing Area |
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By Leonard E. Colvin - Chief Reporter
A local broadcasting executive is working on launching three small low-powered television stations in Hampton Roads which will be owned and operated by African Americans.
Mike Chandler, the CEO of the 40-station radio network REJOICE Musical Soulfood Network, has acquired three 25,000 WATT TV stations which are located in Hampton, Myrtle Beach and Virginia Beach from the Christian-based Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN).
When the stations are up and operating, they will be owned by REJOICE TV, LLC Television Broadcasting Company, and Chandler will be CEO.
The three stations will be part of a 12-station network owned by the Rejoice Musical Soulfood network, according to Chandler, who owns and operates Hampton Roads' gospel music station Rejoice WFMI 100.9.
"Our plan is that once we perfect what we are doing, we will launch a national faith-based network," said Chandler. "We have to become owners. We in the faith-based industry have to do something to recapture our airwaves. We need to own record labels, distributorships, TV stations, etc., and that is what I am trying to do."
The network of stations Chandler is talking about were among 155 low-powered TV stations of 50,000 watts or less that TBN sold or gave away to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (MMTC). Chandler said MMTC coordinated the sale of the stations, in most instances, for 10 cents on the dollar.
Jean Robinson, a spokesperson for the MMTC, said many of the stations are up and operating, some are not. She told the New Journal and Guide last week that as in the case of the three stations now owned by Chandler, the new owners are working to get them operating by the end of the summer.
A spokesperson for REJOICE TV, LLC said the new station locally should be operational by fall. He said the company has finalized the acquisition of the stations and is working on licensing and other FCC requirements.
The three stations will have to be upgraded to Federal Communications Commission (FCC) "digitized" broadcast standards. All television stations operating in the United States were required to digitize their broadcast signals several years ago. Most televisions manufactured today are digital, allowing them to pick up the digitized signals of most TV stations without being hooked up to a cable network.
Most of the stations were transferred to minority owners, many of whom are not running broadcast companies which are faith-based like Chandler's.
MMTC is a national non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving equal opportunity and civil rights in the mass media telecommunications and broadband industries.
The efforts by MMTC, Robinson agreed, would increase the level of minority ownership of television stations nationally. According to figures released by the National Association of Black-owned Broadcasters, African Americans own 245 AM and FM radio stations and just eight television stations.
Over the past 15 years, African Americans have been losing ground in the area of radio and TV station ownership, as large corporations buy up minority-owned stations across the nation of various sizes and merge them into their networks.
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