The film’s homepage.

D.L Hughley, a documentary piecing together rare footage of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, and the HBO documentary The Loving Story about the landmark case that ended the outlaw of interracial marriage were among the winners of the 72nd Annual Peabody Awards. The award recognizes outstanding films by broadcasters, individuals, and other film makers.

D.L. Hughley: The Endangered List, a satirical documentary that sought to get “American black men the same EPA protections afforded snail darters” and aired on Comedy Central, Louie, and Girls were some of the few comedies honored. Many of the winners were documentaries, like The Loving Story and MLK: The Assassination Tapes, which aired on the Smithsonian Channel. Broadcast journalism was also honored, including CNN and its coverage of the war in Syria and Homs, and CBS News and 60 Minutes which was recognized for its report on a Congolese orchestra and choral group, “Joy In The Congo.” The full list of winners is available here.

I don’t know about you, but I’m going to make a point of seeing many of these winning films and reports, particularly The Loving Story, if only because the images are so moving. Can you believe this was even a Supreme Court case in 1967?

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African-American television network Bounce TV has just signed a major distribution deal to partner with Univision Communications Inc., the leading media company serving Hispanic America, to broadcast Bounce TV as a multicast channel of their stations in San Francisco, Boston, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Raleigh, and Tampa. This might be the first time an African-American broadcast company and a Hispanic media company have joined forces at this level. Univision Television Group owns and/or operates 62 television stations in major US Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico, will carry Bounce TV.

This deal, according to a press release, will drive Bounce TV’s coverage to 86 percent of African-American television homes and 68 percent of the total United States. Bounce TV will now also be in available all of the top ten markets and 24 of the top 25 African-American markets. All this comes on the heels of Bounce’s one-year anniversary operation on Sept. 26. Bounce TV, which is majority African American-owned, airs 24 hours daily, seven days a week on the signals of local television stations. Its founding group and board of directors include Martin Luther King III and Ambassador Andrew Young.

While all of the terms of the Bounce-Univision deal have not been disclosed, both sides seem excited about the joint venture. “This unique agreement brings together the leading over the air broadcaster targeting the Hispanic viewer and the only over the air network targeting African Americans,” commented Jeffrey Wolf, executive vice president of distribution, Bounce TV in the press release. “Our partnership with Univision extends Bounce TV’s extraordinary reach even further, reinforcing our position as the fastest growing African-American network.”

Univision Television Group president, Kevin Cuddihy, added, “Bounce TV is the perfect companion for Univision as we continue to serve the New American Reality. It is a meaningful network that will serve African American audiences in our communities joining Univision to create a powerful one-two combination for viewers and advertisers.”

This year, Bounce also announced its first motion picture licensing agreement with Lionsgate through which the network broadcast a package of African American-skewing Lionsgate movies.

Bounce is continuing to rise fast. This latest deal should speed up its growth even more.

Image: UBC-TV.com

This fall, Harlem entrepreneur Peggy Dodson will launch a new broadcast network featuring “multicultural programming,” UBC-TV. The “Urban Broadcast Co.” will begin with four hours of prime-time programming each day. All shows will come from Harlem.

Among the shows, UBC-TV will air shows on a range of topics including beauty and style, health and small business. The channel will also show American Basketball Association games, a news/talk program called A Different Perspective hosted by local journalist Felipe Luciano, and there are plans for a Soul Train/American Bandstand-style program called The UBC Mix Dance Show.

The channel will be available “in most urban centers” and on demand via Time-Warner, Dish Network and Comcast. Dodson started the channel with $600,000 of her own money and a stable of investors.

The network is the latest in a line of broadcast channels targeting black audiences announced over the past year or so. Bounce TV,  founded by Martin Luther King III, Ambassador Andrew Young and Andrew “Bo” Young III among others, launched in the fall. It continues to add programming and geographic locations where it can be viewed.

Little Rock, AR-based Soul of the South Network will be launching soon, available in Atlanta, Orlando, and Orlando where it says it will reach 62 percent of African-American households. We’ve got a promo video from the network’s website below.

And back in February, Diddy announced plans for a music-focused network called Revolt to launch at year’s end. The network was one of those chosen by Comcast (which pledged during government lobbying over the acquisition of NBCUniversal) to air a number of networks owned by minorities.