African-American Cable Television Landscape

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African-American Cable Television Landscape

Deborah Gray-Young
Vice President, Director of Media & Strategic Services
Morris Communications, Inc.

With cable penetration reaching critical mass among African-American households, this industry has a unique opportunity to effectively service this multi-billion dollar marketplace that is routinely ignored, or taken for granted.

Representing 13.9 million households, 78% of which subscribe to cable service – (over 25% of which are digital) – and with close to $700 billion dollars in purchasing power, there are 3 cable networks: BET, Black Family Channel (formerly MBC) and TV One - that are programmed for this consumer's cultural, political and entertainment interests. While BET is celebrating over 20 years, and is the pioneer of the genre, Black Family Channel and TV One are the new kids on the block.

Outlined below is an overview of their offerings:

BET, the strongest of the three, presented a line-up of their traditional fare. The new season's slate features music based shows with strong appeal to 18-24 and 18-34 adults. The strongest entry for next season is the African American women 18-49 favorite, “Girlfriends”, from the Via comcompany sibling, UPN. Also scheduled to debut is an original weekly talk show “Speak Now ”featuring an “Info Squad” of politicians, activists and journalists. Additionally, there are plenty of planned “mega specials” scheduled including “BET Awards”, “Annual Celebration of Gospel” and their new entry,“ The Comic Awards”, which cumulatively have the ability to deliver “mega ratings.”

The network's AA adult 18-34 delivery of 1.7 (CNAD 1Q2003-4Q2003 average), represents the strongest for the network, although other key demos are not far behind. BET is the strongest cable network for delivering African-American consumers, delivering on average approximately 1.5% of the population at any given time.

Compared to other cable networks overall, that is significant, yet there still remains an opportunity for this network to move beyond being a frequency vehicle and becoming a reach vehicle that could rival broadcast networks. This can be accomplished by increased diversification of their programming lineup to reach a wider spectrum of this audience.

Black Family Channel (formerly MBC) is celebrating its 5th year of operation by threatening to turn the African-American cable landscape upside down.

Black Family Channel recently announced the appointment of actor/director Robert Townsend ("The Parenthood", "10,000 Black Men Named George") as President of Black Family Channel Development. With him leading the programming charge, Black Family Channel presented an impressive program palette, reflective of the network's corporate mission: providing high quality content in a family friendly environment.

Black Family Channel is planning to target this consumer segment via daypart and served up a menu of engaging concepts that included clever and entertaining children's programs, edgy but family friendly dramas for teens and young adults as well as dramas and news/information programs for Adults 18-49. All of it original programming, which means it depends on advertiser support to be successful.

Black Family Channel is carried by analog and digital cable and claims availability in 28 million homes. However, it is still moving toward being able to provide standardized audience numbers. Until ratings are available, the network says it is prepared to demonstrate to advertisers how many people are watching. Recognizing this challenge, the network has devised a clever but fair cost structure based on households. The proposed programming makes it worth exploring. Stay tuned...

The newest network, TV One launched in January '04, is a collaboration of Comcast Cable and Radio One network. Headed up by successful broadcast and cable network veteran (CBS and Discovery Channel) Johnathan Rogers, TV One is approaching this audience understanding that the African-American consumer marketplace is not homogenous. Using a mix of acquired and original programming, TV One is promising a diverse program menu that many advertisers and their agencies are anxiously awaiting to help reach a broader cross section of this consumer segment. TV One is conducting a controlled roll-out of its programming which it claims is aimed at African-American adults 25-54. The look and feel however, is more A18-34 & A18-49.

Currently, viewers can tune in to see previously aired episodes of programs like "B. Smith with Style", the hospital drama "City of Angels" and a telecast of the "Tom Joyner Skyshow."

In the near future, their lineup will include: "Living it Up" which is a look at life with Patti LaBelle, "On Point with Armstrong Williams" a news commentary show and "Get the Hook-Up", a reality dating show.

In addition to rolling out their programming, TV One is rolling out their household penetration. As of Q3 '04, TV One plans to be available in 15 million households and will be in a position to provide standardized audience measurement to advertisers. TV One has also constructed a fair rate structure while moving toward the ratings threshold.

The fact that they will potentially reach into a different mindset and life cycle of this consumer segment is worth considering charter opportunities.

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