Roland Martin’s morning show, ‘NewsOne Now,’ is being cancelled by TV One due to budget cuts.
Via Page Six:
“They called a meeting on Wednesday and told the staff they were canceling the show. They’re having significant financial problems and they have to scale back,” a source said. “After four years of award-winning programming and distinguished service to our viewers as the only black daily newscast on television, the network has made the difficult decision to suspend the production of NewsOne Now as a daily morning news show. The last live show is scheduled [Dec. 21],” TV One’s interim GM, Michelle Rice wrote in a memo. The news shocked staffers — including Martin — as the network just expanded the morning show to two hours in September. “There were lots of tears … The staff was completely caught off guard,” our source said. The memo added: “While we will continue our long-standing partnership with Roland Martin to ensure his important voice can be heard across all Urban One platforms examining issues of importance to the black community, we regret this decision adversely affects several of our valued colleagues whose positions will be eliminated with the suspension of the show.” Martin didn’t comment.