KBLC-TV, a local independent cable station based in west Oakland, was launched in 2004 on cable channel 78. KBLC-TV broadcasts to Oakland, Emeryville, and Piedmont--which does not cover a lot of territory. The good news, however, is that it can be viewed via the internet during its scheduled air time via streaming on kblctv.com.
Leonard Stephens, KBLC-TV CEO, said the TV station started out offering programming devoted to the African American community but has since incorporated other programming to serve the people, according to an Oakland Tribune article.
The KBLV-TV website shows that the "one goal in mind is to make certain that our content will bring greater exposure to the needs of our youth, adults and the elderly with issues relevant to social, spiritual and economic change."
Many of its viewers are former Soul Beat Television viewers. Some of them felt that Oakland's African American community was left without a TV voice when Soul Beat was taken off the air in 2003 after a 25-year run and with the later loss of its owner, Chuck Johnson.
Chuck Johnson
Chuck Johnson was the sole owner of Soul Beat TV and had often spoke of his network as being 100% black-owned and operated since 1978. That he would never sell all or part of Soul Beat to cause it to become other than 100% black-owned. As was the case with Black Entertainment Television (BET), which was founded by black business mogul Robert L. Johnson, then sold to Viacom for $3 billion in 2000.
Robert L. Johnson
Soul Beat Television Network, though not on as large a scale as BET, had a loyal following of about 80,000 local fans, referred to as "The Soul Beat Family." And very loyal they were as a
S.F. Chronicle article points out.
With the launching of KBLC-TV, some people now say the African-American community has a TV voice again. However, CEO Stephens said the station is not intended to be a substitute for Soul Beat, though some of the programs that once aired on Soul Beat are now broadcast on KBLC-TV. One of them is "True Solutions," hosted by Yusef Bey IV, a call-in talk show offering discussion from a Black Muslim perspective.
A wide range of programming is broadcast on cable channel 78, and air time is shared among KBLC-TV, VJTV and OUR-TV. KBLC-TV operates between the hours of midnight to 9 a.m. Monday through Sunday. On "Midnights with Sanjiv," host and gadfly Sanjiv Handa discusses Mayor Dellums, Oakland politics, what's going on in city hall, etc., and takes calls from viewers. Another show is "Farrakhan Speaks," with Minister Louis Farrakhan. "Real Talk with Rashad," hosted by Rashad Chambers on Friday nights is a call-in talk show with discussion on anything from the best places in the bay area to get a good pizza to what can be done about Oakland's high homicide rate. The KBLC Cinema features late night movies.
VJTV occupies the air time during the hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. Mainly hip-hop videos are played and some R & B.
OUR-TV airs from 6 p.m. to midnight Monday through Sunday. The letters in OUR stand for Opportunities in Urban Renaissance. The range of broadcasts include religious and educational programming, comedy, a news and community affairs program entitled "Globe News," a dance show for teenagers called "The Beat is Goin' On." OUR-TV also is an outlet for businesses to obtain quality and affordable advertising.
The technical quality on the station isn't perfect. For example, the programming sometimes does not begin at its scheduled time and starts late. The transitions between programs is not always smooth. At times the screen will be blank or show the station logo for 10 to 15 minutes until the program begins late. Or sometimes there may be no programming at all for hours and the screen is black. However, the technical bugs and kinks are gradually being ironed out. The station is attracting more viewers and advertising and is gaining momentum. The most important thing is that KBLC-TV provides a great service to the community.
2 comments:
This is a lot of information. In the beginning I think you defined KBLC-TV well and painted a good picture of what programs they air and to which specific target audience. It has lots of good points, but the writing becomes a little complicated to understand because there are so many facts. It was good to show the other programs that air on channel 78, but that is where I began to get confused because I thought the entire thing revolved solely on KBLC-TV. But in the long run this was very informative about something I knew nothing about. I see that you're planning on writing about music and other stuff that you like, here's a Jackson 5 website that might be of use.
I agree with Scott, it is a very informative piece. I think it was smart to separate all the information you presented in paragraphs. Its good to hear about local Independent channels.
Robert L. Johnson was the only person I knew about in your piece. He also owns the WNBA's Charlotte Sting and NBA's Charlotte Bobcats. I read more about him and wow! He owns ALOT of stuff.
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