Tuning in to TV One: New Channel Ready for Prime Time

Crisis, The, May/Jun 2004 by Bass, Holly

television

On January 19, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, television viewers in a few major cities across the country tuned in to a broadcast of the 1978 miniseries King, starring Paul Winfield. The broadcast marked not only the historic contributions of the civil rights leader, but also the launch of TV One, a new cable channel targeting Black adults aged 25 and older.

TV One says its programming focuses on "African American themes, issues, culture and politics." The suburban Maryland-based network hopes to attract viewers with a mix of reruns, documentaries and classic movies, game and variety shows, and original programming. Sitcoms such as Good Times and 227 are in regular rotation on the network, but features such as an original documentary on slave reparations and On Point with Armstrong Williams, a series of interviews with newsmakers like Condoleezza Rice, are also on the schedule.

But with all the specialized cable channels, public television, regular network television and, of course, BET and the lesser known Minority Broadcasting Cable Network, one has to wonder if viewers really need a new Black channel.

To that query, Johnathan Rodgers, TV One's president and CEO, answers with a resounding "yes." And not just one Black channel, Rodgers says, but a whole offering of channels directed to Black niche markets, including a men's network, a family network and a women's network.

"The media is such an important part of the fabric of American society it belongs to all of us and should serve all of us," says Rodgers, who was president of Discovery Networks U.S. for six years and prior to that spent 20 years at CBS.

"African Americans watch more television than the rest of America. Given the amount of television we watch, the amount of money we have invested in cable, it seems logical to me that there should be one, or more than one, African Americanowned television outlet on the dial."

Research indicates Blacks do watch a lot of television. A 2001 PBS study estimated that on average African Americans watch a whopping 75.8 hours of television per week. Blacks spend the bulk of their entertainment outlay - $2.7 billion annually according to Nielsen Media Research on cable alone. Given these statistics, TV One may, as Rodgers asserts, be logical.

TV One is a joint venture between Comcast, the nation's largest cable operator, and Radio One, the largest Black-operated radio broadcasting company, which owns 67 stations in 22 markets. Comcast, Radio One and four other parties intend to invest a total of $130 million over four years in TV One. When it launched in January, the network was available in five main markets Atlanta; Detroit; Washington, D.C.; Baltimore and Richmond, Va. It has since expanded to Oakland, Calif.; Philadelphia and Chicago, and recently began airing in Delaware, Cleveland and Dallas.

This writer spent more than 20 hours over the course of a couple of days in mid-February watching TV One. Like any startup, the programming offerings on the channel are limited. After tuning in, I soon had my fill of the witty repartee between Jackee and Maria Gibbs on the 227 reruns, but I also happened upon a few unexpected gems.

Weekday mornings on TV One start off bright and early with fitness instructor Donna Richardson's Mind, Body and Spirit. The upbeat live band and Richardson's corps of toned, curvaceous backups could inspire almost anyone to get out of bed or off the couch. During the two-hour show, she offers culturally specific tidbits about fitness, nutrition and lifestyle. At the end of one episode, Richardson admonishes the women in her audience not to let hair issues keep them from exercising, pointing out a few styling options - natural twists, locs, a well-conditioned relaxer - that can sweat in the morning and still look presentable in time for the office.

B. Smith with Style, another daytime staple, brings a savvy flair to the programming lineup. More approachable than Martha Stewart, former model Barbara Smith covers interior design, cooking, fashion and entertaining. The syndicated show, now in production for its seventh season, runs on other networks as well, but Smith will create a few holiday specials specifically for TV One. During the days I watched, a winter holiday episode of Smith's show aired - two months behind season - but was enjoyable nonetheless.

Midday programming on the channel consisted of a matinee movie, such as the Sidney Poitier/Paul Newman classic Paris Blues, bookended by sitcoms, some time-less, others less well-known. Back-to-back episodes of 227 were followed by Between Brothers, a show co-starring Tommy Davidson and Kadeem Hardison that aired for a full season on Fox in 1997-98 and later returned for a brief stint on UPN. The Bill Cosby vehicle The Cosby Mysteries (1994-95) features a young Mos Def playing the gumshoe's geeky sidekick. TV One's programming repeats in three-hour blocks, so viewers who missed B. Smith or 227 the first time around can catch them again in the late afternoon.