TV One: A network for blacks with a sense of mission

By Felicia R. Lee
N.Y. Times
(December 11, 2007) Fortified by caffeine and good will, the volunteer construction crew at Love Fellowship Tabernacle in Brooklyn worked long hours to transform a dingy storage area into the Kingdom Cafe. The hammering and plastering created a restaurant and gathering spot for young people at this Pentecostal church in the struggling East New York neighborhood. As for the lights and camera, they were there for “Divine Restoration,” a TV One program that finds black churches needing a makeover and turns the process into television.

TV One, based in this Washington suburb, is the cable channel with that sassy “I See Black People” advertising campaign. Devoted to black-themed programming, TV One is four years old next month and poised to make a profit for the first time next year. The only other black network is bigger and older: BET. Now 27 years old it reaches about 85 million households and attracts trend-making, advertising-attractive 18-to-34-year-olds.

But executives at the fast-growing TV One, in 42.2 million homes, are betting that there is a hunger among black viewers over 25 for programming aimed at them. At TV One that means no music-video shows or reality series about affluent teenagers or hell dates, all BET fare. Rather, viewers find reruns of shows like “Martin” and “Good Times,” as well as programs like “Baisden After Dark,” a late-night talk-variety series featuring Michael Baisden, known as the Bad Boy of radio, and “Turn Up the Heat with G. Garvin,” a cooking show with the black celebrity chef.

There’s also a “clean” comedy competition, “Who’s Got Jokes,” with the comedian Bill Bellamy as host; documentaries on topics ranging from election fraud to the life of Laila Ali, a boxer and Muhammad Ali’s daughter; old movies; specials about “The Color Purple” and the State of the Black Union, an annual meeting on social and political issues; and “Sharp Talk With Al Sharpton,” a talk show set in a Brooklyn barbershop.

“Politically, socially and economically what we’re doing is important,” Johnathan Rodgers, TV One’s president and chief executive officer, said in a recent interview. “We are controlling our images and giving black viewers a choice.”

That quest to broaden black images coincides with a period of increased African-American scrutiny of media, including a national conversation about using a common black epithet in entertainment. The fallout from the radio host Don Imus’s racist comment about the Rutgers women’s basketball team continues even as Mr. Imus (who lost his jobs at CBS and MSNBC), returned to the air on Dec. 3, on Citadel Broadcasting radio stations, including WABC in New York.

And for the past several Saturdays there have been rallies against Viacom in New York and Washington to protest depictions of blacks in some rap music videos and on MTV, VH1 and BET, channels owned by that company. BET is introducing 16 shows through next year in an effort to answer its critics, freshen its profile and stay competitive. Still, TV One is not itching for a smackdown with BET, Mr. Rodgers said, but wants to meet the needs of viewers with an average age of 35.

“When all we had was BET, they had to be everything to everybody,” Mr. Rodgers said. “Why do we, the people who watch the most TV, have only two channels?”

The family-friendly Black Family Channel, a black-owned, Atlanta-based cable channel founded in 1999 as MBC Network, died earlier this year after failing to get wide distribution. Its Web site says it will continue as a broadband network.

Amy Alexander, a critic who writes widely about race and media, said that black cable networks were necessary because only “thin slices” of black life make it to the screen. “Why aren’t there smart, fantastical shows, well produced, that have a strong black presence?” she asked. If TV One wants to become a must-see brand, she said, it needs some breakout programming.

Mr. Rodgers knows that distinctive programming is crucial. “I have been waiting a long time for this industry to see us the way we see ourselves,” he said. His lengthy résumé includes six years as president of Discovery Networks and a 20-year run at CBS, where his positions included president of the television stations division. Now his team of veterans at TV One feels a historic mission to bring black stories to TV, said Rose Catherine Pinkney, the executive vice president for programming and production.

“Anyone can do a show with black people, but we want to be honest and authentic,” said Ms. Pinkney, who was most recently senior vice president for comedy development at Paramount Network Television. “Girlfriends,” “New York Undercover,” “The X-Files” and “South Central” are among the programs she helped develop at Paramount and elsewhere.

As an example of authenticity, Ms. Pinkney cited the setting of Mr. Sharpton’s show, a barbershop, which is a kind of black town hall. “Divine Restoration,” she said, acknowledges the importance of the black church. A coming family reunion reality series highlights a hugely popular phenomenon among African-Americans. A makeover show and one that peeks behind the scenes at a comedy club, which has as its host Tony Rock, a younger brother of Chris Rock, are on the slate for 2008.

Acquired programs like reruns and movies make up 70 percent of TV One’s schedule. Ms. Pinkney, well aware of the pressure to knock out a hit, said she tried to produce one new prime-time original each quarter.

TV One was started on the holiday celebrating the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., on Jan. 19, 2004, with about 2.2 million households in 16 markets. It can now be found in 69 of the top 75 African-American markets. Industry analysts say it is well positioned to find advertisers and cable distributors because one of its primary owners is Radio One, the largest radio broadcaster targeting black and urban listeners.

Radio One airtime is used to promote TV One and brand names like Mr. Baisden, who is host of the nationally syndicated radio program “Love, Lust and Lies.” Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, is the other major investor.

Alfred C. Liggins III, the chairman of TV One and the president and chief executive officer of Radio One, said he dreamed up the channel as he watched his friend Bob Johnson create BET. But he concluded that BET was not a fit for everyone, Mr. Liggins said, and he and his investors raised $130 million to start the network, with Radio One putting up $74 million. Comcast came aboard, he said, partly because of Radio One’s expertise in urban markets.

So far, so good, say media analysts. “TV One has done an amazing job getting distribution,” Derek Baine, a senior analyst at the media research firm SNL Kagan, said. “We have them projected to be in 50 million homes by the end of 2008.”

The network should make about $70 million in revenue by the end of 2008, after losing money its first four years, Mr. Baine said.

“TV One has a chance because it’s a recognizable brand in connection to Radio One,” said Mark Anthony Neal, director of the Institute for Critical U.S. Studies at Duke University. “They were able to realize that black folks watch the travel channel and the food channel.” Still missing, he said, are the black news programs.

Mr. Rodgers and Ms. Pinkney said they were well-positioned to make a difference in what people see and how black people are seen.

“‘I have this theory that whatever show we make, however we choose to tell the story, our viewers know it’s someone who cares about their lives and their culture,” Ms. Pinkney said, “and made it just for them.”


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