Black Family Channel (launched in 1999 as MBC Network) was an American cable television network which featured programming aimed at

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

audiences. The network's schedule included a variety of programs including religious programs, sports, music, talk shows, and children's programs. During much of the time of its existence, it was the only fully black-owned and operated cable television network (

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

was bought by Viacom in 2001, and TV One was owned by Comcast and Radio One at the time) in the United States. The network was started by noted Florida attorney and philanthropist Willie E. Gary, former all-star baseball player

Cecil Fielder Cecil Grant Fielder (; born September 21, 1963) is an American former professional baseball player in Major League Baseball (MLB). Fielder was a power hitter in the 1980s and 1990s. He attended college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV ...

, four-time heavyweight boxing champ Evander Holyfield,

Marlon Jackson Marlon David Jackson (born March 12, 1957) is an American entertainer, singer and dancer best known as a member of the Jackson 5. He is the sixth child of the Jackson family. Marlon now runs Study Peace Foundation to promote peace and unity wor ...

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

, and broadcast television veteran

Alvin James Alvin James is a retired Jamaican-American soccer midfielder who played professionally in the American Professional Soccer League and National Professional Soccer League. He coaches youth soccer in South Florida. Youth Born in Jamaica, James mo ...

through their business venture Major Broadcasting Corporation. The channel started off as Major Broadcasting Cable (MBC) Network. The name was rebranded Black Family Channel on October 1, 2004 in hopes that it would better identify the channel's content. BFC would effectively be run by actor/director Robert Townsend, who developed original programming for the network, including its most notable effort—the children's educational game show, ''Thousand Dollar Bee'', in which every kid would participate in sort of tournament rounds of spelling challenges toward which the champion would receive a $1,000 bond for their college education. Unlike its primary rival, the Viacom-owned

, Black Family Channel avoided rap and hip hop-based programming (they showed gospel music instead). The network was available in up to 16 million households in the United States. On April 24, 2007, BFC announced that they would cease as a cable channel, effective April 30, 2007, as part of a deal in which BFC's programming and subscriber base would be sold to the

Gospel Music Channel UP TV (stylized as UPtv; formerly GMC TV and originally Gospel Music Channel) is an American basic cable television network that was founded to have a focus on gospel music. It has expanded into family-friendly original movies, series, and special ...

. On May 1, 2007, the deal was closed. The station was an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.{{cite web , title=Territory and Co-op Channels , url=http://www.cctvcoop.com/listChannels.aspx , work=Caribbean Cable Cooperative , publisher=CCTVCoop.com , accessdate=24 November 2013 , url-status=dead , archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110816125823/http://www.cctvcoop.com/listChannels.aspx , archivedate=August 16, 2011 , df=mdy

Over-the-air coverage

Formerly, the network was also carried on two

low-power television Low-power broadcasting is broadcasting by a broadcast station at a low transmitter power output to a smaller service area than "full power" stations within the same region. It is often distinguished from "micropower broadcasting" (more commonly " ...

stations, W23BC serving the

Jackson, MS Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the capital of and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, along with Raymond. The city had a population of 153,701 at th ...

media market A media market, broadcast market, media region, designated market area (DMA), television market area, or simply market is a region where the population can receive the same (or similar) television and radio station offerings, and may also incl ...

, and WRCX-LP, which serves the

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater D ...

area. W23BC has since affiliated with Colours TV and (more recently)

America One America One was an American television network established in 1995 by USFR Media Group through its America One Television subsidiary.

. WRCX has since affiliated with

Ion Television Ion Television is an American broadcast television network owned by the Katz Broadcasting subsidiary of the E. W. Scripps Company. The network first began broadcasting on August 31, 1998, as Pax TV, focusing primarily on family-oriented en ...

References

Television channels and stations established in 1999 African-American culture Defunct television networks in the United States African-American television networks Internet television channels Gospel music media Television channels and stations disestablished in 2007 1999 establishments in the United States