Black News Channel Gets a Loan from Owner

FTVLive FIRST told you that the Black News Channel had missed payroll and later that day they basically canned most of their employees, some of whom they didn’t pay what they were owed.

The cable news channel filed for bankruptcy and has been desperately trying to find a new buyer.

The channel is running on a shoestring budget and now has got permission from the bankruptcy court borrow desperately needed funds from its owner so the troubled media outlet can keep operating while it searches for a buyer.

Bloomberg reports that U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Karen Specie said in a hearing Tuesday she’d let the television network borrow about $1.6 million from an entity affiliated with Shahid Khan, the billionaire who has been financing BNC since 2018. The cash will let BNC keep paying vendors and its few remaining employees while it tries to quickly line up a buyer for the operations.

BNC had about $500,000 of cash on hand at the end of last month compared with debts of more than $25 million, court papers show. Despite valuable distribution deals with cable and Internet television providers, the company has struggled to turn a profit in light of higher-than-expected costs and disappointing revenues since it started broadcasting in 2020, Vice President of Finance Maureen Brown said in a sworn declaration.

Black News Channel says they hope to have a new buyer in place within the next 60 days.