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Urban Television Network
Aims to Take Advantage of the Americas’ Greatest Advantage - Its Diversity
Broadcasting Networks, Television
Television Broadcasting (NAICS 515120)
(OTC: BB – URBT)
Urban Television Network
Corporation
2707 South Cooper Street – Suite 119
Arlington, TX 76015
Phone: 817-303-7449
Jacob R. Miles, III
President and CEO
Interview conducted by:
Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor
CEOCFOinterviews.com
March 9, 2006
BIO:
Jacob R. Miles, III
Currently, Mr. Miles, age 55, is also the President of Grapevine Entertainment Services
and Productions, Inc., a position he has held since 2002. He has served as President and
CEO of Urban Cool Network, Inc., an Internet Portal targeted at the Urban Community from
1997 to 2002, and as President of the Dallas/Fort Worth NAMIC (founded as the National
Association of Minorities in Cable).
Other past corporate
experience includes work for General Mills Entertainment Group and Tonka, where he worked
on children’s programming and developing notable products such as Star Wars, Care
Bears, Batman, Superman, Ghostbusters, Go-Bots, Pound Puppies and SEGA video games.
Mr. Miles also founded the
Cultural Exchange Entertainment Corporation, an award winning company, where he created,
licensed and developed toys and entertainment properties for TV, such as Hollywood Hounds,
C-Bear & Jamal and Dinky Town Kids, which have been featured on ABC, FOX and HBO.
Company Profile:
Urban Television Network works to uplift the urban community through family programming,
while remaining focused on operational excellence.
Urban Television is the alternative to other networks
that deem themselves as "urban" because we are on broadcast channels across the
county. Also, UATV is also the only
minority-owned and operated broadcast television network in the United States. Our company
prides itself on presenting quality programming for the whole family, 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. We reflect the true diversity of life in the Americas, while bringing these
communities together through their unifying interests.
CEOCFO: Mr. Miles, what
was your vision and when you started the company?
Mr. Miles: “My vision began long before Urban American
Television. It began with the need to deal with the changing environment we are living in
- the expansion of multi-cultural markets and the diversity that exists in the Americas.
When I was in the toy and entertainment industry, we promoted black dolls as a reflection
of the people that made up America, and I see the Network as a continuation of that.
Because of the changing population structure of the Americas, we see ourselves as well
positioned for the future.”
CEOCFO: There are
currently Spanish language channels, as well as programming for almost every ethnic group,
where is the unmet need and how is Urban Television meeting that need?
Mr. Miles: “I think the unmet need lies in the lack of a
reflection of the way life really is in America. By that, I mean, if you look at the
existing landscape of television networks and media outlets, you will find most of them
appear to be designed to separate instead of bring people together. We are the network
that brings people together. We bring minorities, and other multicultural elements that
make up our society in the U.S. and South America, together into one centralized medium.
UATV is a one-stop-shop for reaching the urban marketplace.”
CEOCFO: Will you clarify
how you do this?
Mr. Miles: “We have a show on the air, Latin Eyes, that
looks at the world from the Latin prospective. Yet, the show also garners interest from
the African American community because of the commonalities of interests and experiences -
most people don’t realize that. In our Latin American markets, like Brazil, there are
almost 100 million African Americans. We see how these segments come together on shows
like Latin Eyes. We will also be airing shows like ‘Chico and the Man,’ an older
television show that has elements of both cultures in it. The common interests of the
African American and Latin American communities, what we call the sweet spot, show up in
cars, music, and sports clothing. These are the interests and needs marketers and
advertisers can, and do, address through our broadcast network.”
CEOCFO: How are you
reaching the advertiser now and what do you need to do to get them to pay more attention?
Mr. Miles: “We are on about the fourth or fifth step of
a ten-step process. The acquisition of an agreement with Nielsen Media Research, Inc. to
quantify our broadcasting reach, is the largest objective completed recently. This is a
critical element for any network in order to be paid an equitable and fair dollar amount
for its viewers. Currently, we are working with Warner Brothers and Paramount, looking at
their libraries and bringing some of their content over onto the UATV network. We just had
great meeting reviewing programming that fits into our brand model and we will be
following up with that over the next several days. Another offering is our own programming
produced internally, primarily falling in the opinionated talk category. Urban Television
will have talk shows that target women, children and bring the Latin American and African
American cultures together, especially as it relates to purchasing goods and services.”
CEOCFO: You mentioned
the Central and South American markets; will you tell us more about that?
Mr. Miles: “We have looked at the market and realized
Urban Television’s biggest advantage is others have yet to take advantage of Central
and South America’s diversity. Our understanding of diversity gives us an insight
into these markets and where its people come from culturally, as well as a grasp on the
gross underutilization of the area by media, marketers and advertisers. In Latin America,
there are more African Americans than in the United States. If you spoke to the average
American on the street, they would look at you like, ‘How can that be?’ The
African Americans in South America share the same history as the African Americans in the U.S.,
such as slavery, etc. Currently, we are focused on Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Argentina, and Buenos
Aires. We are looking to distribute, develop and produce content for these areas to
provide quality family programming for the consumer and marketing opportunities for our
corporate sponsors.”
CEOCFO: Urban has a
state-of-the-art processing center. How much are you producing and how much production are
you handling for other people?
Mr. Miles: “Right now, we are doing about 85-90% of
independent and network programming. By network programming, I mean programming that is
produced, and being syndicated from a network. By the end of the year, we expect we will
have 30% original programming and 70% of other programming. Of the “other
programming,” 40% will be independent with the remaining comprised of off-network
syndicated programming from Warner Brothers and Paramount Pictures Corporation (a
subsidiary of Viacom Inc. – NYSE: VIA), Sony Corporation (NYSE: SNE), and MGM
(Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. – Privately held) and so forth.”
CEOCFO: You mentioned family programming while focusing on
operational excellence; will you tell us more about that?
Mr. Miles: “For Urban Television Network, ‘family
programming’ does not mean that we will not address risqué topics on our network.
What it does mean is that we will not be gratuitous, or risqué for the sake of being
risqué. On our network, we are reflecting all sides of life, whether it is the good side
or the bad side. What we would like to do is highlight the situations where the good guy
wins. We want to present programming that is uplifting, inspirational, and portrays the
urban marketplace in a more accurate light than is currently being shown. Much of today’s
programming centered on the urban communities, or featuring urban characters, portrays
them as without hope and poor. UATV is serving as a medium that is more reflective of the
diverse realities of our market, while debunking these untrue characterizations. A good
example of this is our plans in the area of Novellas, programs dealing with class and
social status in a format similar to soap operas. They provide a perfect vehicle for
providing uplifting types of messages in our programming.”
CEOCFO: Will you tell us
the significance in speaking at the Multicultural Media Expo?
Mr. Miles: “It is a goal of our network, as well as a
personal goal of mine, to spread the message to the multicultural community that diversity
is a positive thing and can be a strength for our country. But, it is important for us to
be inclusive, rather than exclusive. We can do this by bringing people together based on
their unifying interests. While we believe there is a place in television for only Spanish
speaking stations, we believe that is not promoting inclusion and working together to move
the country and the economic situation forward. We are going to be speaking to that issue
at the Multicultural Media Expo, as well as the impact on the multicultural media with the
merging of UPN and WB. This recent development will not only impact television networks
and its affiliates, but consumers and their viewing habits as well.”
CEOCFO: Will you tell us
about the financial picture for the company today?
Mr. Miles: “I was asked, when I first moved into the
executive level and began running companies, if I knew what a CEO did. I stated that a CEO
runs the company, and received the answer: “No, they raise money.” This is the
state we find ourselves. I find most CEOs are spending their time working with investment
bankers and analysts. They are doing presentations in order to increase awareness and
promote the company’s attributes. This is what takes the bulk of my time. Currently,
we are in the process of building our financial base so we can increase our assets and our
stockholder value. Last year we had some tremendous success in that area. Right now, we
are moving forward through talks with a variety of parties interested in partnering and
investing with us.”
CEOCFO: Why should
potential investors be interested and what is often overlooked?
Mr. Miles: “I think the biggest thing people miss about
Urban Television is that it is a broadcast network. Most people, when there is a new
network, immediately assume it is a cable station because cable has become so integrated
into our lives. But, UATV is a free over-the-air network working to provide quality
programming to the urban communities. On the corporate side, we are giving our partners
the opportunity to gain material and profitable market share in this 1.5 trillion dollar
market. When companies see the size of the market we are focusing our efforts on, in the United
States and Latin America, they see the tremendous opportunities through being attentive to
these demographics.”
CEOCFO: In closing, what
would you say to let readers know that you are in the right place at the right time?
Mr. Miles: “The buying habits of urban America are
unbelievable. For example, they spend $116 billion dollars on food, $65 billion on
automotive products, $65 billion on financial services and $45 billion on apparel
annually. This market also spends a disproportionate amount on entertainment, music, and
film. When the current financial power of the urban market, the trend of population growth
and increasing spending capabilities is taken into account, it is obvious we are in the
right place at the right time. With continued investor support, Urban Television Network
will be very successful.”
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