BET wants original content that will make a mark here and overseas

By Catherine Applefeld Olson
CableWORLD
(February 6, 2006) To describe the transition from BET founder Bob Johnson to new chairman and CEO Debra Lee (left) as seamless is woefully inadequate. Johnson selected Lee as his heir a decade ago. During that time and especially in the past few years, she has effectively become BET's corporate face and has run its day-to-day operations as COO. With Johnson's formal departure Jan. 20, Lee comes to the helm with the confidence of institutional knowledge.

A Harvard Law School grad, Lee has been at the hub as BET's carriage has risen to a record 80 million homes. She is now intent on creating original, "watercooler programming" that will put it on par with major networks. On the eve of becoming chairman and CEO, she spoke with CableWORLD about the types of shows she wants to see on BET and expanding one of the strongest brands in African-American culture.

CableWORLD: Let's start with the crystal ball question. Twenty-five years later, we know what Bob Johnson's vision for BET was. You're in charge now. What's Debra Lee's vision?

"Ever since Cosby we've been demanding more from the major networks. They shouldn't have programming just geared toward a white audience, and that's still true," says BET chairman and CEO Debra Lee.
Debra Lee: BET really needs to make its mark in the original programming arena. Beyond that, I want to take BET all over the world. We need more international distribution. I want to create more revenue streams for the network in terms of home video, BET Films and BET Mobile. We are a content company so we want to be everywhere, whether it's in your home, on your phone, on any screen you watch. BET will be the home for artists, for people who want to create programming targeted to African-Americans and also that the whole world wants to watch. We are not narrowing ourselves in terms of our audience.

CW: Years ago BET was engaged in made-for-TV movies. Then it left that field. With the hiring of Reginald Hudlin as president of entertainment, do you see a return to the genre?

Lee: I knew the future of this network was going to be in making our mark in original programming. So I hired Reggie with the task of creating original programs whether it be reality, comedy, scripted--though I think that's still a ways down the line for us. And of course his background is in movies, so I knew he'd be great in doing made-for-TV films, and we are able to look even at theatrical films. Reality is the low-hanging fruit because that's working well on cable in general, and we already have [BET reality series] College Hill and Ultimate Hustler.

CW: You mentioned rethinking your theatrical business. Can you elaborate?

Lee: It just makes natural sense for BET to have a theatrical arm. We dabbled in that a while ago but we've seen the success of our sister companies MTV Films and Nickelodeon Films, so we're anxious to do our own stories and to have films that appeal to our particular market.

CW: How about animation? Do you see BET doing a Boondocks type of cartoon or moving in a different direction?

Lee: Animation is something we want to do down the line. We recently hired a senior VP of animation, Denys Cowan. Having him on board will allow us to really evaluate animated projects. It's hard to say what kind we'll do, but it's worked well, again, for our sister networks, especially adult cartoons.

CW: Music videos have always been an important part of BET's programming mix. What's your vision for music on BET?

Lee: Music videos will always be a mainstay of what we do. What I'm looking at today is whether there are other things we can do in the music area in relationship with the music labels, whether it's concerts or following the lives of musical artists. We do a lot of that now with Access Granted and our Blueprint series. It's a matter of expanding those opportunities.

CW: The network has also taken heat for airing videos some view as too risqué. What is your answer to those who say videos, say on Uncut, and some other programs, are demeaning to your audience?

Lee: Uncut is an adult program. It comes on at 3 in the morning and is really adult videos. In terms of music videos in general, I know a lot of people have issues with hip-hop videos and hip-hop culture, and the messages it's giving out. In general we try to be well rounded in the type of programming we have. Hip-hop culture is very popular right now. You see it on all networks. So I think it's unfair for people to just point out the music videos and say there's something wrong there. We try to help young people understand where the music fits in with their lives. With some of our music video programming we have advice to teenagers and we try to give them news and information at the same time we're entertaining.

CW: How are some of the other African-American channels--Black Family, TV One, The Africa Channel--influencing what BET does or doesn't do?

Lee: They really don't at all. We get Nielsen ratings every day, so we know what works and what doesn't work. And four times a year we look at our lineup and make decisions based on Nielsen ratings and our research. So that's really what drives our programming decisions, not what competitors are doing. And then there are so many networks that are trying to reach African-Americans like UPN or MTV. Those are the ones that we are concerned with.

CW: To that point, when series like Soul Food debut on Showtime or Everybody Hates Chris on UPN, soon to be known as The CW, what do you tell people who say those series should have launched on BET?

Lee: I don't think we want to segregate our programming. Other networks should be able to target African-American audiences also. Ever since Cosby we've been demanding more from the major networks. They shouldn't have programming just geared toward a white audience, and that's still true, and there are a lot of people out there fighting for that, to have a more diverse cast on Friends or to have dramas like Grey's Anatomy that have African-American stars. BET is an alternative to that and it's what we do 24 hours a day. But that's not to say CBS can't buy a show that appeals to an African-American audience they think will work for them.

CW: Ultimately that's a good thing...

Lee: That's what media should be about. And the great thing about cable is it allowed there to be more extension programming and allowed BET to develop and prosper. When we acquired Soul Food, the exciting thing was there were a lot of people who hadn't seen it on Showtime, so we were able to introduce it to a new audience. There will be a mix of different things on BET, but I think other networks should do the same. Just because there is a BET doesn't mean all black programming should be on BET. That would be wrong.

CW: Infomercials have constituted much of BET's weekend lineup. Does Carlos Watson's new Meet the Faith Sunday talk show indicate a move toward more original fare?

Lee: We've totally walked away from infomercials. We do some religious programming...but over the years we've done less of that. We just expanded our Sunday lineup and we're going to do more gospel programming, more family-oriented programming. Meet the Faith we're very excited about. Carlos is a terrific journalist who came from CNN, so that's going to give us another opportunity to have a news debate about issues of the day from a different perspective.


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