BET is about to get a real rival: comcast, Radio One starting new cable net. (Programming).(Comcast and Radio One are launching a cable network for African-American adults)

Broadcasting & Cable, January, 2003 by Romano, Allison

Cable offers three women's channels, multiple Spanish-language networks and even a smattering of HGTV-type channels. Yet Viacom-owned BET has long been the main cable offering for African-Americans. Not for long. Comcast Corp., the country's largest MSO, and minority-owned radio programmer Radio One plan to launch their own cable channel for black adults in mid 2003.

"African-Americans are underserved in this space," said Alfred Liggins, CEO of radio group Radio One Inc. "They are the single largest minority group, and there's only one service for them." The new, unnamed channel will be a mix of entertainment, news and sports-related programs for black adults 25 to 54 years old. Liggins, who will be chairman of the new channel, says...

Read the rest of this article with a Free Trial at HighBeam Research.

Premium Content Partnership | HighBeam Research provides an in-depth online archive library of reference works.