BET, MBC Square Off on Gridiron

Black Entertainment Television raised the curtain on its third decade of
black college-football coverage Saturday, while rival Major Broadcasting Cable
Network launched cable's first doubleheader black college-football schedule the
same day.

Jackson State vs. Tennessee State led off BET's six-game schedule. The games
will run live or on a same-day basis.

For MBC, Florida A&M and Morgan squared off in the first game at 1:30
p.m., with Southern University vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff as the primetime game at
7:30 p.m.

Both channels will run black college games through early December.

George Johnson and former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Don McPherson will
be BET's broadcast team, with former BET sports director Charlie Neal and former
National Football League quarterback Jay Walker handling one MBC Saturday
doubleheader game, and Mark Gray and Mark Ballen -- ex-ESPN and Fox Sports Net,
respectively -- handling the other.