J.C. Watts' news channel
Ex-lawmaker hopes to fill niche
J.C. Watts' news channel: Ex-lawmaker hopes to fill niche

By Chris Casteel

Published: July 27, 2008

WASHINGTON — When J.C. Watts left Congress in 2003, he started his own lobbying, consulting and public affairs companies based in Washington. He also has been a regular political commentator and a corporate board member while also working on charitable efforts like the Coalition for AIDS Relief in Africa.

Now Watts, 50, is about to embark on a venture that will combine his business and political background with the journalism degree he earned at the University of Oklahoma (where he was known more for his achievements on the football field).

Watts, who was the only black Republican during the eight years he served in Congress, is launching a cable news channel next year that will give the black community a perspective he doesn't think is now available.

Q:Can you tell us how this idea came about and what you envision for it?

A:I saw some data that said when you looked at the top 10 TV shows in the white community and you looked at the top 10 TV shows in the black community, none overlapped, with the exception of one. "ER” was number one in the white community; it was number 10 in the black community.

So I started asking questions, you know: Why? Why is that? There was a time — the days when it was CBS, ABC and NBC — we all got our language and we got our culture fed through three networks. Today it's totally different, and people I think receive the news and they want to hear the news in ways that they want to listen to it. So Black Television News Channel (was) established to market to the African-American community. Economic news, the social issues of the day, the political issues of the day. None of the mainstream news sources target the African-American community in ways that they actually want to listen. So we think there's a niche out there that we can meet.

Q:There's been criticism about the way the mainstream media portrays the African-American community. Do you share that criticism, and how would you try to improve that coverage?

A:I do share that. If J.C. Watts does something crazy with another African-American in terms of fighting or getting busted for drugs, you can't say, "That's not news; you don't want to report it because it makes the community look bad.” I mean, it is what it is. It's news. You're obligated to report that. But the message I would send to society as a whole is that there's more to the African-American community than just crimes or drugs. You've got African-Americans that manage billions of dollars in private equity funds ... And you've got African-Americans who are CEOs. There are people who are impacting the economics of the country who are African-American, people who are impacting policy matters in the nation.

Q:Your channel will be launching in the same year that Sen. Barack Obama may be the nation's first black president. Have you thought about how your channel would cover him?

A:I think there obviously would be a special interest in the African-American community. ... We would not cover him any differently than CNN or FOX. All demographics should be able to digest how tax policy impacts them as a community, how foreign policy impacts them, how poverty policy impacts them. In the society today, I've heard more about white voters and black voters and Hispanic voters in this election than at any time I've been involved in politics. And I think that's the marketplace we're in.

Q:What's your role going to be at the channel? Are you going to be the Ted Turner of the channel? Are you going to be on camera?

A:My role will be chairman of the advisory council. We will have an advisory council that will determine editorial policy, and it also will be important to make sure that the channel stays true to its mission. We're not a Republican channel, we're not a Democrat channel. We don't have an ideological bent one way or the other. But we want to make the Black Television News Channel the destination for African-Americans or anyone who wants to get credible, reliable information concerning the African-American community.

Q:Will it be available nationwide at first?

A:Comcast represents about 53 percent of the African-American cable households. We've got an agreement with them. Time-Warner, we're in discussions with them ... they represent about 42 percent of the African-American cable households. So with those two, we'll have 95 percent of the African-American cable households. DishNet, we have an agreement with them, they give us a footprint nationally. So with Comcast, the agreement that we have, the first six markets will be Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and here in Washington, D.C.

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