Muzzammil Hassan, MBA, is a graduate of the University of Rochester and a former bank vice president who is now CEO of a trailblazing American Muslim television station, Bridges Network. Along with Omar Amanat and Omar Ghoseh, Mr. Hassan hopes to have the network broadcasting its original programming as early as summer 2004, if they can persuade 10,000 people to sign up and pay for the service. We interviewed him about his plans.

Q: Why would American Muslims sign up?

A: They think they are not accurately portrayed. Bridges TV gives American Muslims a voice and will depict them in everyday and real life situations.

Q: How did the idea for Bridges come to you?

A: The idea isn't mine. It belongs to my wife. After 9/11 we were on a road trip listening to the radio. Suddenly the talk show we were listening to turned anti-Muslim. Some very derogatory comments were made and she got upset. During the course of the conversation, she came up with the idea that we really need to have an environment where our childrencan grow up feeling emotionally strong and confident about their identity both as Muslims and as Americans.”

Q: In one of the articles that we read about Bridges TV, the author mentioned that it might be difficult to go nationwide as soon as you would like.

A: I agree with those remarks. We probably won't be on every cable operating system in the country. We would get a national footprint through the satellite carriers like Dish and Direct TV and in addition to that we would focus on the top 20 cable markets such as New York, Chicago, LA, Dallas, Detroit etc., getting the cable operators in those markets to carry the channel. That's going to cover a good two-thirds of the American Muslim community and then, slowly, we'll begin expanding to other markets as well.

Q: How are you letting other Muslims know about Bridges TV and getting them to subscribe?

A: Most of it is happening through online advertising, email communications,word of mouth. National organizations are starting to come on board. We've started to do some print advertising and are getting the help of a traveling road show.

Q: Given the diversity of the Muslim American community, how are you going to accommodate all of the different cultural traditions and the different Islamic traditions without making any group of Muslims feel alienated?

A: There are two distinct ways we're going to try to accomplish that. One is that there is not going to be a Pakistani Hour or an African-American Hour or an Arab Hour. All of our programming will have people and issues from those ethnic groups blended in. Take, for example, a show that focuses on legal issues—civil rights, immigration, and so on. The host could be an African-American woman interviewing an Arab-American and South-Asian. Between the issues and the people on camera, we would be appealing to that diversity. The same goes for sitcoms or stand up comedy, and so forth.

Second, all of our programming is going to be in English, so no matter which ethnic origin you are, everyone is going to be on the same page. English broadcasting points to the diversity within the Muslim community and includes Black American Muslims, who represent anywhere from 25% to 35% of the American Muslim community. Plus mainstream America can tune in and understand what's going on, so we'll have that crossover appeal.

Q: Give us some ideas as to the programming you'll be offering.

A: In our market research we gathered a lot of very detailed data in terms of what kind of programming people would like to see across different demographic variables such as age and gender, ethnicity, and so forth. Some of the top programming people would like to see are Muslim-focused Q and A shows able to address questions about the conflicts of growing up Muslim in America, Q'uran stories and Q'uran lessons for children and recent convert, political talk shows, news shows, Islamic history (documentaries and docudramas), and biographies of American Muslim achievers.

There was a lot on interest in Islamic cartoons for children. A food show ranked pretty high for non Muslims. A game show that combines Islamic and modern questions together and advice shows around immigration issues, finance and so on.

Q: Is there going to be a specific type of approach that you're looking for when discussing religion?

By its very name, Bridges, it needs to be an inclusive channel that will give an opportunity for the diversity within Islam to express its own views and offer platforms for people to have a dialogue around it—both within the Muslim community as well as interfaith types of activities. We at Bridges really don't have any one viewpoint or agenda or anything like that. We are building a platform to allow people to have that dialogue and sort things out on their own.

Q: Given the sensitivity of the country to Muslims, is there going to be a deliberate insertion of "patriotism" in these programs?

A: I have absolutely no idea. We're going to be relying on the scripts and independent producers to produce those shows. I think that anytime a show tries to push an issue, and it doesn't have to be patriotism, there tends to be a certain resistance from the audience, so I think that a lot of that will flush itself out.

At the end of the day, it’s really the audience that dictates what kind of programming there's going to be. If we're doing the research and listening to the feedback and people are finding a certain kind of programming good and a certain kind not good, we will evolve accordingly.

Q: How do people subscribe to Bridges?

A: They can sign-up on our website at www.bridges.tv or they can call us at 716-578-1317 to subscribe over the phone. Their membership would help us tremendously towards convincing the cable operators to carry the channel in that market.

Q: Is there anything you would like to add?

A: The only way this project is going to happen is if the American Muslim community wants to make it happen. We really need to get 10,000 members signed up to convince the American media to carry the Muslim TV channel.