A look into Detroit's Channel 62 as the nation's first Black-owned TV station
From 1973 to 1994, Channel 62 was Black-owned and operated, providing jobs and training in journalism for African Americans as well as providing local programming and news to Detroit's Black community.
Channel 62 was founded by William V. Banks and became the first Black-owned TV station in the United States. Banks had plans to help young people. The first producer to help Banks with his vision was Joe Spencer.
"He wanted to get young people trained into the broadcast field. Unlike other stations, he knew other people who were experienced but relied greatly upon young people coming in, learning skills and crafts from the ones who knew about it here," Spencer said.
Out of those plans came opportunities to produce and direct that proved beneficial to the station's success. Kenneth Bryant Jr. was hired while he was in college.
"They allowed me to direct the first program they ever aired on that station, so that was a tremendous blessing for me," Bryant said.
The station aired syndicated programming along with big city news, but its most successful show was a dance show that aired on Oct. 13, 1975, "The Scene." Nat Morris envisioned the show as an outlet for young people in the city of Detroit.
"It was a sense of pride to see someone who looked like them, danced like them, or someone who danced like they like to dance like on TV and on a daily basis," Morris said.
"The Scene" ran for 12 years until 1987. CBS purchased Channel 62 in 1994, and it would become CBS Detroit. The building that housed the original station is now the William V. Banks Museum of Journalism, located on East Jefferson in Detroit.
