Shahid Khan, owner of the Jaguars, injects $1.6 million into the bankrupt Black News Channel.

Judge Karen Specie said Tuesday that she would let Black News Channel (BNC) borrow $1.6 million from a company that is linked to Shahid Khan, the billionaire who has been funding the TV station since 2018.

The money will allow BNC to keep paying vendors and its few remaining employees while it looks for a buyer for its business.

Due to financial difficulties, BNC, a black-owned television network, was on the verge of shutting down and dismantling itself late last month. According to court records, the company downsized its operations and laid off most of its employees. Many of them are still owed money for work they did before the bankruptcy, and many of them haven’t been paid yet.

Rather than liquidating, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and has been attempting to maintain operations on a much smaller scale ever since. According to court documents, BNC rehired seven employees last week to assist the channel in remaining operational. When BNC filed for bankruptcy, it had only 17 employees, a fraction of the more than 300 who worked for the Tallahassee-based broadcaster six months prior.

According to court documents, BNC had approximately $500,000 in cash on hand at the end of last month, despite debts totaling more than $25 million. Due to higher-than-expected costs and low revenues, Vice President of Finance Maureen Brown stated in a sworn affidavit that despite valuable distribution agreements with cable and Internet television providers, the company has been unable to turn a profit since it began airing in 2020.

Numerous bidders have contacted the company in recent weeks about purchasing the operations and keeping it afloat, according to court documents. At Tuesday’s bankruptcy hearing, attorney Gregory Werkheiser testified on behalf of BNC that lawyers for the company and its creditors believe that selling the entire business would maximise value for everyone involved. However, due to a lack of financing, a transaction would have to be completed quickly.

“We believe this case will ebb and flow over the next sixty days,” Christopher Schreiber, a lawyer for the Shahid Khan investment entity, stated during the hearing. “Hopefully, we’ll have a sale during that time.”