Statement: Allen Media Group Acquires Black News Channel, Roland Martin on Black-Owned Media, 'The Culture Is: Latina' Hosted by Justina Machado

Telemundo

Broadcast: Following The Wendy Williams Show's finale, the head hostess spoke to The Post about not appearing in the last episode and future projects that can result in a comeback. Williams states that Debmar-Mercury did not ask her to appear in the finale of the Emmy-winning talk show after leaving following health-related issues– AHS reported last month. However, Williams says fans can look forward to her returning with a podcast titled The Wendy Experience and a seafood-themed restaurant in the future. Williams did not share any set dates for either project.

Sylvia Bugg, the Chief Programming Executive and General Manager of General Audience Programming at PBS, is awarded as a 2022 Wonder Women of Los Angeles. The Multichannel News Wonder Women Awards honors and recognizes many different exceptional women executives in the TV, streaming advertising, and media industries. Bugg strongly supports opportunities to amplify diversity in front and behind the camera with fellowships and funding programs for up-and-coming media talent. "I have always believed a diversity of inclusive content and storytellers is essential to a more vibrant media landscape," said Sylvia Bugg.

ABC signs Ana Navarro and Sunny Hostin into multi-year deals as permanent co-hosts for The View. Hostin is a lawyer, author, television personality, and social justice activist who has been a co-host at The View since 2016. Her new deal signs her to co-host the daytime talk show through season 28. Hostin will co-host alongside Navarro, a political strategist, and commentator who has frequently appeared on the show. Navarro's multi-year deal with ABC has her co-hosting the show Mondays and Fridays as a fill-in for Joy Behar and Whoppi Goldberg. She will also join the other co-hosts for special event episodes and notable interviews.

Telemundo brings new leadership on board. Sandra Smester is hired as the Executive Vice President of Programming and Content Development. It's a newly created role for the network as the company pursues a multiplatform future in the world of streaming. Smester previously worked for TV Azteca as Executive Vice President and Chief Content Officer.

CBS also welcomes new members. The network has hired Ash-har Quraishi as a national consumer correspondent responsible for national-scale stories that will air on CBS-owned stations across the USA and local and streaming channels. Quraishi was a national correspondent for the E.W. Scripps Company and was a news reporter and fill-in anchor at WMAQ Chicago. Gerardo Lopez is also named Vice President and News Director at WBZ-WSBK Boston, owned by CBS News and Stations. Lopez previously worked with CBS as a nightside assignment editor in Texas and has experience as a news director for E.W. Scripps-owned  WTKR-WGNT in Norfolk, Virginia.

CBS mourns the loss of Emmy-winning producer Heather Gray with an open letter shared by The Hollywood Reporter last week. Gray is best known for her work on  The Talk, which garnered the executive producer two Daytime Emmy Awards and an NAACP Image Award. Before joining The Talk, Gray worked as supervising producer for The Tyra Banks Show. The letter called her contributions to the show "immeasurable" and noted her as a "boss that proved you can lead with kindness."

Byron Allen - Larry French / Stringer

Cable: Allen Media Group acquires Black News Channel (BNC), controlled by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Khan, for $11 million. #RolandMartinUnfiltered addressed the rise and fall of the BNC in an in-depth analysis when the network declared bankruptcy in March. Since then, Byron Allen has purchased the assets of BNC and said in a statement, "Allen Media Group will deliver a best-in-class network to serve the underserved African-American community and the advertisers who want to reach this extremely valuable audience. Also, we appreciate the opportunity to provide cable operators, satellite companies, telcos, and digital platforms diversity of ownership, voices, and viewpoints on their programming line-ups by having a 100 percent African-American owned network." Under Allen Media Group, BNC will join Weather Channel and digital outlets such as Local Now, HBCU GO, and TheGrio.

In June, MSNBC launched the first episode of The Culture Is, a special four-part series aiming to celebrate and elevate the voices of women of color. Each episode will have a celebrity host representative of their community. Joy Reid and Tiffany Cross hosted the first episode, "The Culture Is: Black Women," on June 19 and included an exclusive interview with Vice President Kamala Harris. Actress Justina Machado will host “The Culture Is: Latina” on August 7 featuring a roundtable discussion with Julissa Arce, Gloria Estefan, Maria Hinojosa, Gloria Calderón Kellett, Bricia Lopez, Janel Martinez, Mónica Ramírez and Gina Torres. Fewer details are known about episodes three and four— "The Culture Is: AAPI Women" and "The Culture Is: Indigenous Women." However, Katie Phang and Alyssa London are reported to host the episodes, respectively. Episodes will also be available after airing on NBC's streaming service Peacock.

Roland Martin - Rodin Eckenroth

Streaming: In an interview with The Los Angeles Times, Roland Martin emphasizes the importance of black-owned media and having sources dedicated to Black audiences. Martin is an American journalist, political analyst, and commentator and is the recipient of two NAACP Image Awards for Best Interview and has been named by Ebony Magazine as one of the 150 Most Influential African Americans in the United States three times in a row. In 2018, Martin invested $400,000 of his own money to launch #RolandMartinUnfiltered, a streaming news show that has garnered almost 900,000 subscribers since launching—becoming one of seven shows for his Black Star Network. Martin states he is determined to keep Black Star Network free for its viewers and supplements his ad revenue with generous contributions from fans and members who believe in his cause. Roland Martin describes his overall entrepreneurial vision by citing an 1827 quote from Freedom's Journal, the nation's first Black newspaper: "We wish to plead our own cause; too long have others spoken for us."

The Emmy Award-winning Disney+ series, Turning the Tables with Robin Roberts, is renewed for a second season. The series host is Robin Roberts, best known for co-anchoring ABC's Good Morning America, which has won five Daytime Emmys under her leadership. In the series, Robins gets candid with women trailblazers in Hollywood as they detail their own stories. The series is currently streaming season 1 on Disney+.