Florida's News Channel: Difference between revisions
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network_name = Florida's News Channel| |
network_name = Florida's News Channel| |
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Revision as of 22:27, 31 October 2012
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| Type | Cable Network |
|---|---|
| Country | |
| Availability | Florida |
| Owner | Robert Brillante |
Key people | Frank Watson, vp/general manager; Harvey Bennett, news director; Gordon Graham, news anchor |
Launch date | September 1998 |
Florida’s News Channel (FNC) launched in 1998 with the tag line, “A New World of Television News.”[1] FNC was a regional cable news network available on Florida’s cable television systems (e.g. Comcast, GTE, TCI Cable, AT&T Broadband, and Continental Cablevision).[2] The launch of FNC marked a breakthrough in the production and distribution of television news content.[3] FNC’s viewers were the first to see virtual reality news environments with customized local scenery in each of Florida’s seven major television markets.[4] News programming gathered by FNC’s 26 news crews, seven NBC affiliated broadcast stations, and one Fox affiliate was transmitted from each local market back to the network’s operation center located in Tallahassee, Florida via FNC’s ATM-switched OC3 fiber optic network. News content was then packaged in a Headline News template, refreshed every half hour, and distributed to each local market. All of the six local news feeds were customized to display local scenery and the branding elements associated with the local cable TV distributor by using virtual reality news environments. FNC was both owned and managed by cable television veteran, Robert “Bob” Brillante.
Frank Watson served as FNC’s vice president and general manager.[5] Prior to joining FNC, Watson served as general manager for Tallahassee’s CBS affiliate, WCTV. Harvey Bennett served as FNC’s news director. Four-time Emmy Award-winning anchor Gordon Graham,[6] the former CNN Headline News anchor, was FNC’s lead anchor for prime time newscasts. FNC’s feature program show was the Vasilinda Report hosted by well-known Florida journalist and reporter Mike Vasilinda.
Brillante partnered with renowned trial attorney Willie E. Gary, sports legends Evander Holyfield and Cecil Fielder, Marlon Jackson of The Jackson 5, and broadcast television veteran Alvin James to form MBC News, LLC for which Brillante served as managing partner.[7][8] MBC News created nightly newscasts that featured stories of interest to and about people of color.[9] These newscasts were hosted by anchors Gordon Graham, Val Bracy, and Karla Winfrey (cousin to Oprah Winfrey). The MBC News nightly newscast was broadcast from FNC’s studio facilities and received by more than half the nation’s African American cable television households in 2002. FNC’s network facilities were sold to Gray Television in 2004 after FNC entered a lengthy court battle over the distribution of the network’s programming to Comcast subscribers throughout the State of Florida.[10] The legal dispute between FNC’s management and Comcast was settled in 2005.[11] Today, FNC’s former studios are home to Gray Television’s local CBS affiliate, WCTV, and ABC affiliate, WTXL.
References
- ^ Flynn, Barry (August 4, 1998). "Network Focusing On Florida News Launches Next Month". Orlando Sentinel.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Clifford, Dorothy (November 8, 1998). "Chatting in The Florida Room". Tallahassee Democrat, Style Section.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Ensley, Gerald (July 25, 1999). "FNC Navigates Inaugural Year". Tallahassee Democrat.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Straeb, Matt (August 1999). "The Reality of the Virtual Set". Broadcast Engineering.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Ensley, Gerald (April 27, 2000). "New Chief at Florida News". Tallahassee Democrat.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Grobe, Kathy (July/August 1999). "A Familiar Face in a New Place [Gordon Graham]". Tallahassee Magazine.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Deggans, Eric (February 24, 2003). "A 'CNN' for black viewers". St. Petersburg Times.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Umstead, R. Thomas (February 10, 2003). "Startup Preps Startup: MBC to Try News Net". Multichannel News.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Jordan, Juana (February 25, 2003). "A Major Step for Florida News Channel: Tuning in Black Viewers". Tallahassee Democrat.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Scott, Rocky (December 3, 2003). "Comcast to Drop Florida News Channel Due to Lack of Viewer Interest". PC World.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Circuit Court, Fourth Judicial Circuit, in and for Duval County, Florida, styled Florida's News Channel v. Media One, et al.; Case No.: 02-05864 CA; Division CV-G (the "Action")