(wilmingtonstar.com) Despite being the first and certainly the largest African-American cable channel, BET has developed few of its own marketable stars and virtually no breakout programs. It relies instead on reruns, movies and music videos for the bulk of its lineup.
BET’s chief executive, Debra L. Lee, has tried to reverse that trend, this year increasing the channel’s production budget 50 percent and plunging into original programming with 16 new shows planned for the new season.
“What we have found over the years is that acquired and licensed programming has not done as well as we would have liked,†Ms. Lee said. “It was very clear that we had to invest more in original programming.â€
Ms. Lee joined BET in 1986 as general counsel and vice president, working closely with its founder, Robert L. Johnson. She was named president and chief executive when he left the network in 2005. Although she did not have direct programming experience, the programming department had reported to her since 1995. A calm, businesslike executive, she quickly brought in a team to “take BET to the next level,†she said in a recent interview at Viacom’s Manhattan headquarters, where she commutes from BET’s Washington offices.
Ms. Lee’s attempts to remake BET come at time when all cable channels are contending with an increasingly tough landscape as the battle for market share among the mature networks intensifies. BET’s ratings were strong in 2006 but tumbled in the first quarter of this year.
And while the channel has had some success with original series like “American Gangster†and “Lil’ Kim: Countdown to Lockdown,†they have been overshadowed by some recent hits on other Viacom cable channels. These include Comedy Central’s “Chappelle’s Show†and VH1’s “Flavor of Love†and two spinoffs: “I Love New York†and “Flavor of Love Girls: Charm School.â€
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According to a 2005 Nielsen study, African-Americans watch more television on average than the overall population. That appetite for television raises the question of why BET’s ratings are not higher.
“BET does not have the ratings it should have with 12 percent of the audience being black,†said Leo Hindery, a partner in Intermedia Partners, which owns a majority stake in the Gospel Channel, a cable network. “It has never developed a soul of its own. I would do more sports than they are doing and I would stay with the youth audience.â€(more…)
My unsolicited opinion: BET will dissolve to a weekly segment on MTV. “The Black Hour” or something of that nature.
I’m not in the habit of defending BET, mainly because its business model is so archaic and its management unimaginative. But in its defense, BET J — a 2nd channel (formerly known as ‘BET on Jazz’) — has been quietly made over to feature indie films from Af-Am directors and more adult-oriented, long-form music programming including Jazz, Blues, R&B, and Neo Soul concerts.
Since BET ‘Classic’ (?) continues to function as MTV’s de facto beta channel for Rap & Hip-Hop music, I’d like to see them demonstrate more independence with their music videos by featuring a more aggressive playlist of ‘emerging’ artists. BET could also benefit by investing in the development of original talent in-house and integrating the Internet as a source of new programming ideas.