
WHY THIS MATTERS
Cable nets are ramping up drama output to create shows with appeal to the demographic group that watches more television than any other.
A successful single woman is at a crossroads in her life. She wants to have a family, but she's in love with a man who is involved with another woman. In her desire for a child, she goes as far as to steal her lover's sperm.
When he finds about the theft, out he lashes out at her. As he leaves the house for the last time, he turns to her and says, If you wanted a child, all you had to do was ask.
The scene could originate from any primetime or daytime drama on a mainstream cable or broadcast network created to lure female viewers. Instead, the script is from BET's sophomore primetime drama, Being Mary Jane, one of nearly two dozen scripted and reality series created specifically to reach an advertiser-desirable African-American female viewer. It's an audience segment that watches more television than any other demographic and that mostly controls the purse strings for an African-American consumer base estimated to have buying power of more than $1.1 trillion this year.
African-American-targeted networks BET, TV One, Aspire and Centric (which this past November rebranded to target women) join mainstream services such as OWN, VH1, Lifetime, Oxygen, WE tv and Bravo in creating content for African-American women, whom executives say will surf the cable dial to find content reflecting their image and sensibilities.
Lots to Watch
The African-American woman watches so much television that there's room to watch on targeted networks as well as culturally relevant programming on non-targeted networks, said Cynthia Perkins-Roberts, VP for multicultural marketing for the Cabletelevision Advertising Bureau.
African-Americans in general watch 37% more television than any other group - more than seven hours per day. African-American women watch nearly eight hours of television per day, easily topping all demographic groups, according to Nielsen.
African-American women watch a lot of television, and I think that it's a proven audience and one that we have always embraced, said D'Angela Proctor, senior VP of programming and production for TV One.
While TV One has consistently focused on targeting African-American female viewers since its launch 10 years ago with shows such as music documentary series Unsung and, more recently, reality fare like R&B Divas, Proctor said other more mainstream networks are beginning to see the value of that audience and have begun to create content to reach that viewer.
Shows mainly featuring African-American women in lead roles are attracting not only African-American female viewers, but viewers across all demographics in big numbers. Bravo's Real Housewives of Atlanta this past November set a network ratings record, drawing 4 million viewers for its seventh-season premiere on Nov. 9.
OWN's Tyler Perry-produced scripted series The Haves and the Have Nots last month set a network record for a season premiere, drawing 3.2 million viewers for its Jan. 6 season 3 debut.
Lifetime's Whitney, an original movie about the late Whitney Houston, drew 4.5 million viewers on Jan. 17, making it 2015's most-watched movie to date.
High-Volume Viewers
African-American women actively seek out shows that appeal to them, Perkins-Roberts said. Viewers in the demographic frequently watch an average of 20 channels - almost twice as many frequently watched channels as viewed by women in other demographic groups, the CAB said.
Young African-American women in particular watch more cable programming than their counterparts. For the 2014-15 television season, African-American female viewers 18-49 generated an astounding 24% rating in primetime among ad supported cable networks, compared to 16% for white women 18-49, the CAB said.
For the six major broadcast networks, the African-American female demo only garners a 9% rating, about the same rating as white women.
So it's no surprise that Oxygen, WE tv, OWN, Bravo, VH1 and Lifetime, among others, are all developing content specifically for black females.
Black female viewers comprise about 20% of Lifetime's audience base, Rob Sharenow, executive VP and general manager, said. Lifetime has garnered critical acclaim and Emmy nominations for several of its diverse original movies, including the 2013 effort Betty & Coretta and last year's A Trip to Bountiful.
There is a lot of interest in that audience because they are an ad-sales target and there are all kinds of brands looking to get those women, and we have them, Sharenow said. I want our channel to reflect the diversity of our country, and I think you can really win when you can bring the widest audience appealing to a lot of different people and different backgrounds.
WE tv's Thursday-night block, which includes Braxton Family Values, Tamar & Vince, Mary, Mary and SWV Reunited, garners a 70% African-American female audience. We saw a great response and built programming to leverage off of that success, network president Marc Juris said. I think every cable company is looking for an audience and we've found a very loyal audience that we've built on.
The key is providing quality fare that offers strong, positive-values-based characters that African-American female viewers can identify with, Juris said.
While many mainstream networks have made inroads toward reaching African-American women, networks with a full-time focus on the demographic still reach the majority of viewers.
Networks geared specifically to African-Americans, such as BET, Centric and TV One, produce programming that account for 76% of the top-indexing programs for black adults, according to Nielsen's 2014 The Black Consumer report.
Superserving the Demo
For us, it's our audi
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
14/07/2026
South end zone videoboard, cloud-based control system will be ready for 2026 football season...
14/07/2026
Redesigned website, enhanced mobile app unify content, ticketing, and personalized fan engagement...
14/07/2026
Agreement spans sponsorship sales, digital monetization, radio production, and new practice facility naming rights...
14/07/2026
Independent league adds 14 regional sports network affiliates, growing distribut...
14/07/2026
New strategy aims to unify competitions, content, fan engagement, and commercial...
14/07/2026
ESPN and Disney+ become exclusive home of PFL events in key international MMA market...
14/07/2026
Gill will oversee engineering, technology, and sports operations across the company's 64 local television stations...
14/07/2026
Submitted by North American Broadcasters Association (NABA)
As broadcasters con...
14/07/2026
Modernized mobile unit combines HOME Apps, mc 56 console, and IP infrastructure ...
14/07/2026
Every match of the 32-team tournament will air across ION and Scripps Sports platforms in English and Spanish...
14/07/2026
FloHockey to stream every game of the annual international tournament under four...
14/07/2026
Victory+ telecasts to be simulcast on TEGNA-owned station, expanding free local distribution...
14/07/2026
Plug-ins for heavy music
Avalanche Tones is the brainchild of Ava Toton, a 17-year-old musician and developer who says her goal is to make the lives of gui...
14/07/2026
Launched alongside new Singer Showcase purchase model
IK Multimedia's innovative vocal-synthesis software has just gained its latest voice add-on, the R...
14/07/2026
Registration open until 1 September 2026
The MIDI Association have revealed that the registration deadline for this year's MIDI Innovation Awards has no...
14/07/2026
88-note model completes MK4 range
Novation have just introduced the final model in their flagship MIDI controller keyboard range, the Launchkey MK4 88. Roun...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
IBC2026 has unveiled a powerful Conference programme bringing together global media leaders, technology innovators, creators, sports organisations, broadcasters...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, has delivered two highly capable outsid...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
14/07/2026
Techtel Successfully Relocates AICD Broadcast Studio to New Sydney Headquarters
BroadcastBroadcast EquipmentLive StreamingBroadcast Studio2026
14 July Writ...
14/07/2026
Tuesday 14 July 2026
First look revealed for Friday the 13th prequel, Crystal ...
14/07/2026
When immersive audio dominates industry headlines, it's easy to assume that every broadcaster is preparing for an Atmos future. The reality is quite differ...
14/07/2026
Emma and Sophie from ICG's marketing team joined thousands of fellow marketers, brands and agencies at MAD//Fest London 2026, one of the UK's biggest ma...
14/07/2026
Why Trusted and Secure Media Operations Matter In this series, we explore the technologies, architectures and operational realities shaping modern media operati...
14/07/2026
Pilot Project Shows How Retailers Are Prepared for the Next Step in the Evolution of Digital Commerce
Arvato Systems Drives Agentic Commerce Forward
G terslo...
14/07/2026
As part of this commitment, weve joined the SME Climate Hub, publicly pledging to:
measure our greenhouse gas emissions
reduce them in line with a net zero p...
14/07/2026
Power is AI infrastructure's inescapable constraint. How many tokens an AI factory can generate within a fixed power budget determines its revenue and profi...
13/07/2026
The Braves opted to keep production in-house rather than hand it off to MLB...
13/07/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...
13/07/2026
Eurovision Sport is making live athletics more accessible to fans than ever befo...
13/07/2026
The Milwaukee Bucks will return to full-season over-the-air television for the 2...
13/07/2026
SMPTE has announced an expanded education pathway for media technology professio...
13/07/2026
Vizrt has announced that its graphics technology was used by broadcast design agency Girraphic for Netflix's debut MVP MMA event, broadcast live from the In...
13/07/2026
ARRI has announced an agreement to sell its global rental activities in Europe, the United Kingdom, and North America to H2 Equity Partners through a management...
13/07/2026
DAZN has announced a partnership with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) to bring PBC fight nights to DAZN subscribers globally. The partnership begins Saturday, Ju...
13/07/2026
TikTok and WSC Sports have announced a strategic partnership that gives sports r...
13/07/2026
Two new Ross products -Brushback: Full Count and CapGo - are debuting at Citizens Bank Park All-Star festivities...
13/07/2026
MSG Networks' was given exclusive access during the Knicks' unforgettabl...
13/07/2026
LOS ANGELES, July 13, 2026 - Sundance Institute today announced the 10 producers selected to participate in its annual Producers Labs taking place July 13-18 fo...