WXYZ-TV To Launch New Network

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., Sept. 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- WXYZ-TV will launch BOUNCE TV, the nation's first broadcast television network designed for African-American audiences, on Wednesday, September 26^th, the day the network celebrates its first birthday.  The new network can be seen over-the-air on channel 7.3.

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BOUNCE TV targets African-Americans between the ages of 25 and 54, with a programming mix of theatrical motions pictures, live sporting events, documentaries, specials, inspirational faith-based programs, off-net series and original series. 

The network is currently seen in 60% of television households in 17 of the top 20 television markets, and in more than 80% of African American homes. 

"We're extremely excited to provide this unique programming opportunity for the roughly 400,000 African-American homes throughout Southeast Michigan," says Ed Fernandez, Divisional General Manager and VP & GM of WXYZ.  "We look forward to building this network for our local viewers and believe this effort, as has always been the case at WXYZ, will serve our community well".

BOUNCE's movie line-up includes Jamie Foxx's Academy Award-winning performance as Ray Charles in "Ray," Denzel Washington's Academy Award-nominated role in "The Hurricane," Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing," and "Jungle Fever," "The Nutty Professor I and II," starring Eddie Murphy, Will Smith as "Ali," 1985 Best picture nominee "A Soldier's Story," Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder in "Stir Crazy," and Sidney Poitier's classic "A Raisin in the Sun."

BOUNCE TV will also air three original series, as well as live sporting events including both football and basketball games from the nation's largest African American athletic conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA).  Special memorial tributes to African American entertainers including Whitney Houston, Donna Summer and Don Cornelius are also on the network's schedule.

Martin Luther King III and Ambassador Andrew Young are among the founders of BOUNCE TV, and also serve on the network's Board of Directors.

WXYZ-TV is owned by E.W. Scripps.  Scripps is a leading media enterprise that embraces its rich history in delivering high-quality journalism through television stations, newspapers and the Scripps Howard News Service, while developing and expanding its digital strategies, including social gaming, for multiple platforms. The company provides community-changing breaking news, story-telling, investigations and interactive outreach at 19 television stations in major markets such as Denver, San Diego, Detroit, Phoenix, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Tampa, and 13 newspaper markets, including Memphis, Knoxville, Naples, Fla., and Corpus Christi, Texas. Since 1941, Scripps has operated the National Spelling Bee, one of America's most-enduring celebrations of academic excellence.

SOURCE WXYZ-TV