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 ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
08/05/2026
Nine Alumni Nominated for Tony Awards More than 20 alumni contributed to this year's Tony-nominated productions.
May 7, 2026
By
Tori Donahue
Boston Co...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
08/05/2026
Liberty University on why broadcast technology isn't just a technical invest...
08/05/2026
COW Jobs: UGC, On-Camera Video Content
Brie Clayton May 7, 2026
0 Comments
UGC, On-Camera Video Content
April 17, 2026Documentary Editor - US,......
07/05/2026
Journalists reporting on Sudan are working in one of the most complex and fast-m...
07/05/2026
Multi-year partnership positions Victory+ as a free home for Dallas Cowboys orig...
07/05/2026
From sideline reporting to directing and producing, the talented sophomore is building a well-rounded foundation for a career in live sports production
In the ...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital has received two Future Best of Show awards at NAB Show 2026. The COBALT blueCORE platform was recognized by TV Tech, and the COBALT PACIFIC ULL-...
07/05/2026
ESPN analyst Mina Kimes will host the televised semifinals and finals of the 202...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI, the global film streaming platform, has selected Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner. Bitmovin's encoding infrastru...
07/05/2026
NBCUniversal Telemundo Enterprises and the U.S. Soccer Federation have announced...
07/05/2026
Angel City Football Club (ACFC) and Victory have announced a regional broadcast partnership bringing live match coverage to fans across the greater Los Angeles...
07/05/2026
Spiideo has announced the launch of AI Highlights inside Spiideo Play, its automated sports production platform. AI Highlights combines video, event data, audio...
07/05/2026
Leostream Corporation has announced a unified remote access ecosystem for high-p...
07/05/2026
The Atlanta Dream has partnered with Victory to stream all locally broadcast Dream games for free, expanding the team's digital distribution strategy and g...
07/05/2026
Riedel Communications has announced the appointment of Marc Engroff as Chief Fin...
07/05/2026
SES and ARD, Germany's largest public broadcasting network, have announced a long-term extension of their satellite distribution partnership through 2039. U...
07/05/2026
UpLight Technologies delivers a flexible video and lighting system for a new televised sportLaunching the Pro Cheer League required more than creating a compell...
07/05/2026
Full Day Productions and GSE Worldwide have announced Spikes Under the Lights, a...
07/05/2026
Seit dem Start im Jahr 2023 hat DJ (Beta) das personalisierte H rerlebnis von 94...
07/05/2026
Da quando stata presentata nel 2023, DJ (beta) ha aiutato a definire un'esperienza d'ascolto pi personalizzata per 94 milioni di utenti Spotify Premi...
07/05/2026
Since launching in 2023, DJ (beta) has helped shape a more personalized listenin...
07/05/2026
Desde o lan amento em 2023, o DJ (beta) j ajudou a deixar a experi ncia de ouvi...
07/05/2026
From our earliest days, Spotify has been built on a simple principle: Great audio should be easy to reach. It's what's driven us to expand from music to...
07/05/2026
Asian and Pacific Islander artists continue to shape the global soundscape, pushing creative boundaries and connecting with fans worldwide. This Asian & Pacific...
07/05/2026
Company announce long-requested choir instrument
In the latest expansion of their Symphonic Elements series, UJAM have introduced an all-new vocal instrumen...
07/05/2026
Modular-inspired sound generation with digital control
Buchla have introduced Ziggy, a new compact synthesizer built around the company's complex oscill...
07/05/2026
Combines analogue voices with digital synthesis and sequencing
Polyend have announced Drums, a new hybrid analogue and digital drum machine that combines sy...
07/05/2026
Control surface now officially supports four DAWs
When Nektar launched the Panorama CS12 control surface, it worked exclusively with Apple's Logic Pro, ...
07/05/2026
In the first quarter 2026, SGL Carbon generated consolidated sales of 184.5 million, which was 49.8 million, or 21.3%, lower than in the prior year (Q1 2025: ...
07/05/2026
Rohde & Schwarz and Greenerwave achieve precise and fast ESA antenna characteriz...
07/05/2026
Two multi-role L3Harris products - the Red Wolf launched effects vehicle and SK...
07/05/2026
L3Harris will be developing key features of a secure and resilient digital infra...
07/05/2026
Alysa Liu and Shohei Ohtani Help Drive Viewership as 91 of the Top 100 Broadcast...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
Cobalt Digital Wins Two Future Best of Show Awards at 2026 NAB Show
Manufacturer Recognized by TV Tech and TVBEurope for Innovation in signal processing
Cobal...
07/05/2026
Software and hardware platforms, AI power and user-friendliness on show...
07/05/2026
Intinor will demonstrate its latest technical enhancements for the Direkt series at BroadcastAsia 2026. With a continued focus on reliable contribution and remo...
07/05/2026
Bitmovin has announced that MUBI has chosen Bitmovin as its cloud VOD encoding partner, replacing MUBI's legacy on premises encoding setup to improve scalab...
07/05/2026
Meet Graduates from Berklees Class of 2026 Members of this years graduating class reflect on their proudest moments at Berklee and look ahead to whats next.
...
07/05/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
07/05/2026
At BroadcastAsia 2026, Interra Systems will demonstrate its latest innovations in automated quality control (QC), real-time monitoring, and captioning. The comp...
WHY THIS MATTERS
