View source for Mutual Black Network

{{Short description|American radio network (1972–1991)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
[[Image:Mutual Black Network 1974 Commercial Poster.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Photographs of a thoughtful man and woman, accompanied by extensive copy, including the slogan "The Voice of Black America".|Advertisement for the Mutual Black Network, featuring Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] and poet [[Nikki Giovanni]].]]

The '''Mutual Black Network''' ('''MBN''') was founded by the [[Mutual Broadcasting System]] in 1972 as the first national full-service [[radio network]] aimed at African Americans; it was initially branded as '''Mutual Reports Network''' (MRN)<ref>{{cite web |last1=Commission |first1=United States Federal Communications |title=Federal Communications Commission Reports: Decisions, Reports, and Orders of the Federal Communications Commission of the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pd6uGlAU4GEC |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |language=en |date=1975 |quote=Also, as indicated in an earlier request which had been granted by the Chief, Broadcast Bureau pursuant to delegated authority, some stations affiliated with either the MBS or Mutual Reports (Black) network, in markets where another station is carrying one or the other of these games, may wish to carry delayed broadcasts of earlier MBS or Mutual Reports newscasts which have been fed prior to the game.}}</ref> before the branding change to MBN. With 98 affiliated stations across the United States, including flagship [[WNSW#WNJR|WNJR]] in New York,<ref name=nyt/> the network broadcast an hourly five-minute newscast at 50 minutes past the hour. It also aired sports and feature programs, and for one year beginning in the spring of 1974, a 15-minute daily soap opera called ''Sounds Of The City''.

Some of its special programming focused on [[African-American history]], much of which was researched, written and narrated by MBN news anchor Ben Frazier. Other MBN news anchors included [[Glen Ford (journalist)|Glen Ford]], John Askew and Ed Castleberry; Castleberry also hosted a celebrity interview program, ''Soul of Entertainment''.

In 1979, the Mutual Black Network was purchased by Sheridan Broadcasting, an African American-owned company which had been a minority stockholder in MBN, and renamed the '''Sheridan Broadcasting Network.''' In 1991, SBN merged with the rival [[National Black Network]], forming the present-day [[American Urban Radio Networks]].

==Affiliates==
*[[WNSW|WNJR]],<ref name=nyt/> Newark, New Jersey, in the New York City market --[[Flagship (broadcasting)#Network|flagship station]]
*[[WDAS-FM]] and [[WDAS (AM)|WDAS]] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
*[[KCOH]] in Houston; Texas
*[[KJET]] in Beaumont, Port Arthur, Texas 
*[[KOKY]] in Little Rock, Arkansas
*[[KPRS]] AM‐FM in Kansas City
*[[KKDZ|KYAC]] AM‐FM in Kirkland and Seattle, Washington
*[[WARH#Early years|KWK]] in St. Louis, Missouri
*[[WABQ]] in Cleveland, Ohio
*[[WZAZ|WERD]] in Jacksonville, Florida
*[[WIGO (AM)|WIGO]] in Atlanta, Georgia
*[[WWNN|WRBD]], Broward County, Florida and its sister FM station [[WMXJ#History|WCKO]]<ref name=nyt>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/04/29/archives/mutual-to-begin-news-for-blacks-100-5minute-reports-due-weekly-on.html|title=Mutual To Begin News For Blacks|first=Louis|last=Calta|date=April 29, 1972|work=New York Times|access-date=November 6, 2020}}</ref>
*[[WXGT#History|WVKO]] in Columbus, Ohio
*[[WWIL (AM)|WWIL-FM]] in Wilmington, North Carolina

==See also==
*[[National Black Network]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{American broadcast radio}}

[[Category:African-American radio]]
[[Category:Defunct radio networks in the United States]]
[[Category:Defunct radio stations in the United States]]
[[Category:Mutual Broadcasting System]]
[[Category:Organizations established in 1972]]
[[Category:Organizations disestablished in 1991]]
[[Category:Radio stations established in 1972]]
[[Category:Radio stations disestablished in 1991]]


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