As February unfolds and Black History Month 2024 is celebrated, it's a time to recognize, honor, and uplift the stories and contributions of the Black community throughout history. Cable television networks have been instrumental in bringing these narratives to the forefront, offering a platform to showcase the richness, diversity, and resilience of the Black experience in America.
African Americans love TV. According to Nielsen, it’s a demographic that watches 37 percent more television than any other. And the TV industry has taken note: Of the nearly 500 scripted series across broadcast, cable, and streaming, at least 60 are headlined by black actors. However, most of them don’t appear on BET, OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, Bounce TV, or TV One: 70 percent of the black-headlined shows run on other networks and streamers.
Movies and TV shows that showcase diverse stories and images have the power to open our eyes to new experiences and perspectives, combat inaccurate beliefs and perceptions, and celebrate our differences. Here are networks prioritizing these stories, ensuring they reach a broad audience and promote a better understanding of the Black experience.
A marketplace saturated with networks that target black audiences might seem like progress. But without competitive programming to attract that in-demand audience in all its diversity, success isn’t assured. And with the battle for eyeballs likely to become even more intense, a question to be answered is whether there is room for a black TV network to become dominant.
"There is as much of an opportunity for a ‘black TV network’ to be dominant as there is an opportunity for a hip-hop artist to have a top hit on the pop charts, a ‘black movie’ to win an Oscar award or a black man to be President," she said.
Read also: Experience Fad's Fine African Cuisine
Major Networks
BET (Black Entertainment Television)
With a legacy spanning over four decades, BET is a pioneering force in showcasing Black culture, history, and achievement. Founded in 1980 by Robert L. Johnson, BET was the sole player in the black TV space for more than two decades. From music-related programming to news, talk shows, scripted series, reality shows, specials, and documentaries, BET reflects the vibrant tapestry of Black culture.
To celebrate Black History Month, BET launched a new weekly series, “Legacy Unleashed,” to spotlight the contributions of individuals who have left a mark on music, television, and culture. BET also claims prominent relationships with black creatives like Tyler Perry, following the mega-deal he signed with parent company Viacom in 2017.
Although BET is the most-established black TV network, it’s faced criticism that others have done a better job programming to its core demo.
OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network)
Read also: The Story Behind Cachapas
Founded by the iconic Oprah Winfrey, OWN is a testament to the impact of Black voices in media. Oprah herself has broken barriers and created spaces for meaningful conversations. OWN goes beyond the surface, exploring issues that resonate with the Black community through compelling lifestyle and entertainment programming.
OWN president Tina Perry is also pleased with what she called a rising tide. However, she’s cautious about whether this new interest in black audiences will be sustained. Some of that work includes ensuring that more black creatives have the opportunity to develop original content, especially at the highest levels.
Meanwhile, OWN, whose target demo of black women, 25-54 is even more specific than its competitors, boasts partnerships with DuVernay (“Queen Sugar”), as well as relatively new talent like acclaimed playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney, whose much-anticipated drama series “David Makes Man,” will premiere on the network this summer.
Max subscribers can now enjoy popular OWN series, thanks to a rollout of a dedicated OWN hub that can be found in the Brand Spotlight carousel of the Max homepage.
TV One
Read also: Techniques of African Jewellery
TV One celebrates the Black experience by providing a platform for authentic storytelling. The network often highlights the achievements of unsung heroes and heroines within the Black community, offering a broad range of real-life and entertainment-focused original programming, classic series, movies, and music.
TV One targets African-American adults with a broad mix of original unscripted series, documentaries, original movies, and sitcom reruns. It’s also home to the annual broadcast of the NAACP Image Awards. In the face of growing competition for black audiences, the network underwent a comprehensive creative overhaul in 2016. In January, TVOne also launched CLEO TV, a lifestyle and entertainment network targeting millennial and Gen X women of color.
TV One is best known for its signature programming brand, “Unsung,” a music biography series that tells the stories of the greatest R&B and soul artists of our time.
TV One general manager Michelle Rice said this surge of interest only reflects what’s long been true. “While you will find more outlets targeting black audiences, they don’t always represent our culture and stories authentically and respectfully,” Rice said.
REVOLT TV
With a primary focus on music and lifestyle content, REVOLT TV emphasizes urban culture and the hip-hop community. From music videos to news, life performances, documentaries, culture shows, and social commentary, REVOLT TV showcases emerging Black artists and highlights social and racial injustices, inspiring positive change.
Looking for a new podcast? Then check out REVOLT’s lineup, which features a network of artists, influencers, entertainers, and thought leaders.
Other Players
There’s also an appetite to create outlets that target the black audience beyond the majors. Lesser-known players include Bounce TV, which launched in 2011 as the nation’s first-ever broadcast television network designed exclusively for African-American audiences. Broadcasting company E. W. Scripps acquired Bounce in October 2017.
Targeting the 25-54 African American demo, Bounce made an early commitment to original scripted series. “Family Time,” a half-hour comedy created by Bentley Kyle Evans (“The Jamie Foxx Show”), ran from 2012-2018.
Black Streaming Services
A few weeks ago the world was hit with the Media Black Out, a movement that called for individuals, specifically people of color, to turn off their connection to any form of media. Stop consuming social media, music, television, etc for a day! It was a global protest calling media companies to recognize and support not only black lives, but to address their racist and prejudice biases within their own corporations. Instead of us giving our money to these corporations Media Black Out encouraged individuals to support black owned businesses.
Here is a list of black streaming services you can support and fall in love with!
- ALL BLK - Previously Urban Movie Channel this Black streaming platform was established in 2014, founded by BET founder, Bob Johnson. It features a rapidly evolving slate of popular original series such as Craig Ross Jr.’s Monogamy, A House Divided, and Double Cross; must see independent films, nostalgic Black cinema, lively stage plays, popular network TV, and much more.
- KWELI TV - Kweli meaning "truth" in Swahili brings you global, Black content to viewers. Streaming over 600+ titles featuring indie films, documentaries, web series, children’s shows, animation, wellness, business, audio stories & more!
- OWN APP - Founded by the media mogul herself, Oprah Winfrey. The Oprah Winfrey Network provides lifestyle and entertainment content to primarily Black women and African American audiences. The network has a strong roster of reality shows like Ready to Love and Love & Marriage. Along with scripted content like Queen Sugar, The Haves & Have Nots, and All Rise.
- AMERICAN LEGACY NETWORK - For over 24 years, the American Legacy Network has programmed content that celebrates African-American history and culture. You can watch classic black films and documentaries, and original programming.
- AFROKIDS.TV - Provides kid friendly and family oriented media that offers a variety of animated adventure series, historical events and people, African storytelling, games, and more.
- SLAY TV - this is the premiere streaming service for queer and trans original content.
- BLACK WORLD CINEMA - Founded in 2005 by Floyd Webb and Alisa Starks, Black World Cinema showcases seldom seen classic, Black films and new, original movies. Focused on filmmakers that bring compelling content and stories seldom presented in mainstream cinema.
- AFROLAND.TV - a free online streaming service that gives you access to watch FREE African movies, television shows and Nollywood! Helping to bring African stories to the global stage!
- URBAN FLIX TV - this streaming service brings you critically acclaimed: series (scripted and unscripted), features, short form stories, musical projects, stage plays, VR, stand-up comedy specials, and documentaries.
- DAME DASH NETWORK - Founded by Roc-a-Fella record executive, Dame Dash, started the Dame Dash Network providing original movies and digital series.
- ARTHOUSE DIGITAL - Art cinema-inspired original streaming series and films from award-winning filmmaker Lamont Pierré.
- BROWN SUGAR - this streaming platform allows you to watch classic television shows and movies but they also have the largest collection of classic, Black cinema.
- BLACK BOX MOVIES - 100% Black owned and operated this streaming service allows you to watch the latest releases on demand from anywhere.
- BLACK & SEXY TV - Established in 2011, Black & Sexy TV is one of the original independent, Black owned and operated digital series platforms. All of their series are original where you might see some of your favorite up and coming Black actors as well as some current superstars like Javicia Leslie (Batwoman) and Will Catlett (Black Lighting).
Note: FOX SOUL and BET PLUS are not black owned, but they provide content catered to Black audiences.
These networks are just a glimpse of the diverse array of platforms that celebrate Black culture and history. As we commemorate Black History Month 2024, let us continue to engage with and uplift these stories that enrich our collective understanding of the world.
