Mutual Black Network

Photographs of a thoughtful man and woman, accompanied by extensive copy, including the slogan "The Voice of Black America". — Advertisement for the Mutual Black Network, featuring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and poet Nikki Giovanni.

The Mutual Black Network (MBN) was founded by the Mutual Broadcasting System in 1972 as the first national full-service radio network aimed at African Americans; it was initially branded as Mutual Reports Network (MRN)^[1] before the branding change to MBN. With 98 affiliated stations across the United States, including flagship WNJR in New York,^[2] the network broadcast an hourly five-minute newscast at 50 minutes past the hour. It also aired sports and feature programs, and for one year beginning in the spring of 1974, a 15-minute daily soap opera called Sounds Of The City.

Some of its special programming focused on African-American history, much of which was researched, written and narrated by MBN news anchor Ben Frazier. Other MBN news anchors included Glen Ford, John Askew and Ed Castleberry; Castleberry also hosted a celebrity interview program, Soul of Entertainment.

In 1979, the Mutual Black Network was purchased by Sheridan Broadcasting, an African American-owned company which had been a minority stockholder in MBN, and renamed the Sheridan Broadcasting Network. In 1991, SBN merged with the rival National Black Network, forming the present-day American Urban Radio Networks.

Affiliates

WNJR,^[2] Newark, New Jersey, in the New York City market --flagship station
WDAS-FM and WDAS in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
KCOH in Houston; Texas
KJET in Beaumont, Port Arthur, Texas
KOKY in Little Rock, Arkansas
KPRS AM‐FM in Kansas City
KYAC AM‐FM in Kirkland and Seattle, Washington
KWK in St. Louis, Missouri
WABQ in Cleveland, Ohio
WERD in Jacksonville, Florida
WIGO in Atlanta, Georgia
WRBD, Broward County, Florida and its sister FM station WCKO^[2]
WVKO in Columbus, Ohio
WWIL-FM in Wilmington, North Carolina

References

^ Commission, United States Federal Communications (1975). "Federal Communications Commission Reports: Decisions, Reports, and Orders of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States". U.S. Government Printing Office. Also, as indicated in an earlier request which had been granted by the Chief, Broadcast Bureau pursuant to delegated authority, some stations affiliated with either the MBS or Mutual Reports (Black) network, in markets where another station is carrying one or the other of these games, may wish to carry delayed broadcasts of earlier MBS or Mutual Reports newscasts which have been fed prior to the game.
^ ^a ^b ^c Calta, Louis (April 29, 1972). "Mutual To Begin News For Blacks". New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2020.

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[1] Commission, United States Federal Communications (1975). "Federal Communications Commission Reports: Decisions, Reports, and Orders of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States". U.S. Government Printing Office. Also, as indicated in an earlier request which had been granted by the Chief, Broadcast Bureau pursuant to delegated authority, some stations affiliated with either the MBS or Mutual Reports (Black) network, in markets where another station is carrying one or the other of these games, may wish to carry delayed broadcasts of earlier MBS or Mutual Reports newscasts which have been fed prior to the game.

[nyt-2] Calta, Louis (April 29, 1972). "Mutual To Begin News For Blacks". New York Times. Retrieved November 6, 2020.

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Affiliates

See also

References