Black News Channel (BNC), the nation's only 24/7 African American news channel, has partnered with PESA, a leading U.S. designer and manufacturer of professional video and audio distribution systems, to ensure reliable news programming as BNC rolls out its news service on Nov. 15 to an estimated 33 million cable TV and satellite households in the top African American TV markets.
"PESA's consistent integrity regarding its technology, analysis, and design, as well as the company's dedication to exceptional service and support, led to our outstanding partnership,\" said Kenny Elcock, director of engineering and operations for BNC.
PESA's long-standing history of providing mission-critical solutions and being widely accepted in government facilities due to rigorous testing and certification assures BNC of the quality and reliability of PESA's systems.
"Using the same equipment that the government and military trust in mission-critical environments is very important,\" said Nate Russell, chief engineer at BNC. "I want to sleep at night. PESA provides the reliability and peace-of-mind that I want."
"We are proud of BNC's selection of our routing platform,\" said Scott Barella, chief technical officer at PESA. "Our Cheetah router has stood the test of several Olympics and numerous other world events. We're equally proud to add BNC to the PESA family."
The legendary Cheetah router is a very large 576 router that takes up a rather small footprint. Its unique design offers lower costs due to the need for less space, cabling, and cooling and also offers a sleek, efficient design. Paired with a DRS audio router, the Cheetah router provides dual outputs, minimizing the need for distribution amplifiers (DAs) and reducing the amount of setup and cabling required. In addition, the audio routers provide exceptional audio management, enabling BNC to embed and de-embed all audio as needed.
"The ability to mix and match anything with the DRS is exceptional. The router enables superior flexibility and easy expansion,\" said Russell. "The system is designed to plug-and-play … it just works."
"We were looking for an open standards-based system that will meet our needs today and provide us with a future-ready platform for tomorrow,\" said Elcock. "We are in a good place and ready to make the next leap forward. With the help of PESA, we expect to accomplish a great deal."
BNC is destined to become the premiere news network for its African American audiences. Headquartered in Tallahassee, Florida, and with bureaus in Washington D.C., Atlanta, New York, New Orleans, Chicago, and Los Angeles, BNC is actively expanding its network with lots of excitement to come.
# # #
About BNC
Black News Channel (BNC) is an independent network that is minority owned and operated, and it will be the nation's only provider of 24/7 cable news programming dedicated to covering the unique perspective of African American communities. BNC is the endeavor of the network's Chairman and visionary, J.C. Watts, Jr., former congressman from Oklahoma and celebrated athlete, and the network's CEO and co-founder Bob Brillante, a 40-year cable TV veteran. BNC will provide access to information and educational programming to meet the specic needs of this growing and dynamic community that is a major consumer of subscription television services. BNC will provide an authentic, new voice that represents African Americans in mainstream media and fosters political, economic, and social discourse; the network will be one voice representing the many voices of African Americans. BNC's programming will illuminate truth about the unique challenges facing urban communities and help close the "image gap\" that exists today between the negative black stereotypes perpetuated by mainstream media news and our enterprising African American communities. Black News Channel will launch later this year to an estimated 33 million cable TV and satellite households in the top African American TV markets, including New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta.
