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| Type | Broadcast television network |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Urban Television Network Corporation |
| History | |
| Launched | December 3, 2001; 24 years ago (2001-12-03) |
| Closed | May 1, 2006; 19 years ago (2006-05-01) |
Urban America Television (UATV) was an over-the-airtelevision broadcast network in theUnited States targeted towardsBlack Americans. According to the company's website, the network had 70affiliate stations. UATV claimed to have had a reach of 22 million households in the United States. It was a successor to the earlierAmerican Independent Television network and began broadcasting December 3, 2001. Created and developed by Fred Hutton (among others) the early programming featured independent produced programs, along with 1930s and 1940spublic domainrace films.
The company was the only minority-certified television network with the National Minority Supplier Development Council.
The network aired some original programming, along with films and older sitcoms and dramas. Some programming was also syndicated in markets without UATV stations, but most of its affiliate base was in densely populated metropolitan areas.
According to its filings with theSecurities and Exchange Commission, Urban America Television experienced liquidity needs which severely hampered its ability to continue operations, and eventually lost the ability to pay for satellite and uplinking services, along withmaster control at the network level, effectively curbing the network's operations any further.
As a result, on May 1, 2006, Urban America Television suspended all operations indefinitely, eventually hoping to return if refinancing allowed it to return to the air, though this never occurred.
In response to UATV's unexpected termination, many affiliates were forced to find alternative sources of programming. Competing networks such asAmerica One and religious3ABN benefited from the failure of UATV, and stations such asWUHQ-LP inGrand Rapids, Michigan andWONS-LP inOlean, New York, simply changed to other minor networks. The digital age and the rise of subchannel networks with a much higher quality selection of programming and on-air production, includingBounce TV, also did in the majority of pre-digital minor networks, a fate likely to have befallen UATV even if survived into the digital age.