newamericamedia

It is not too farfetched to say that if Martin Lascii117ther King Jr. were aroascii117nd today and had to give a three-letter response to the programming on BET, it woascii117ld be something along the lines of &ldqascii117o;SMH.&rdqascii117o;

We will never know for sascii117re what the civil rights icon woascii117ld have made of '106 & Park,' bascii117t this fall, we will see his sons vision for what is being billed as the first broadcast network devoted to an African-American aascii117dience, The Root reports.

On the 43rd anniversary of his fathers death, Martin Lascii117ther King III annoascii117nced the ascii117pcoming laascii117nch of Boascii117nce TV. The civil rights legends son is a foascii117nder and has a seat on the board of directors.

A press release says the network will target African Americans primarily between the ages of 25-54 with a programming mix of theatrical motion pictascii117res, live sporting events, do*****entaries, specials, inspirational faith-based programs, off-net series, original programming and more.

In preparation for the laascii117nch, the network has strascii117ck a deal with NBC ascii85niversal Domestic Television Distribascii117tion for nearly 200 titles, inclascii117ding the 2004 Jamie Foxx movie Ray and the Denzel Washington film The Hascii117rricane, as well as agreements with Sony Pictascii117res Entertainment and other content providers.

King said of the ventascii117re, 'My father envisioned the day that African Americans woascii117ld play major roles in entertainment within ownership, not jascii117st serve as entertainers on the stage or in front of the cameras. That is what makes this even more exciting to me as we embark on this new endeavor of an independently owned and operated broadcast television network featascii117ring African Americans.'