3/17/2005 5:00:00 PM GMT
Source: www.bizjournals.com
Wow Cable started airing the first English language TV channel targeting American Muslims in Southeast Michigan.
The channel, Bridges TV, focuses on featuring American Muslim lifestyle and culture. It will show newscasts, cartoons, family-friendly sitcoms and movies about Muslim life. It hopes to air stories about Muslims not seen on ordinary television.
The network is the first of its kind in English targeting more than seven million Muslims in the United States, one of the fastest-growing demographics in the nation.
Wow Cable said that Columbus has a large Muslim population, including the country's second-largest concentration of Somali immigrants.
Bridges TV President Muzzammil Hassan hopes that the channel can dispel stereotypes about Muslims.
"Bridges TV sheds light on the numerous contributions that Muslims make to American life. Through this network, Americans get to know their Muslim neighbors," he said.
Imam Hasan Qazwini of the Detroit-based Islamic Center of America hailed the project, saying that "A lot of people have questioned where the American Muslim voice was in response to recent world events. Bridges TV can be that voice because it is a platform for discussion and an outlet for the American Muslim community,"
Bridges TV was launched in December and is based in Buffalo, N.Y.
Wow Cable is a division of WideOpenWest LLC, a provider of cable TV, Internet and phone services, based in Denver.