Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 17, 1993 TAG: 9301140021
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ZION BANKS KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
BET MOVES TO CONQUER NEW FRONTIERS
The idea was to provide black America with the kind of cultural nourishment that other mainstream television and cable-station networks had long neglected.News, music, sports and talk shows for blacks.
And it worked - big time.
With a menu offering more than 33 million subscribers many programs, Black Entertainment Television is moving to conquer another frontier - the rest of America.
Robert Johnson, founder of BET and chief executive officer of BET Holdings, boasts that in just 12 years, the network has nearly satiated the television entertainment appetite of blacks nationwide.
It's time to bridge cultural gaps, he said.
"We believe it is a part of what's necessary in the country to prosper as a nation," Johnson said while in Anaheim, Calif., for an international cable show. "We'll see more blacks entering the workforce than any other ethnic group."
Johnson and his Washington, D.C.-based crew are even crossing the border, heading to Canada, where the network is carried in Yellowknife, the small capital of the far-flung and thinly populated Northwest Territories.
Only 1,500 homes will have the channel, but the signing was a major feat for the network.
"It's a big coup for us because we finally get in Canada," said Curtis Symonds, BET vice president of affiliate sales and marketing.
Eventually, BET officials hope to snag all 7 million Canadian cable hookups and begin bridging cultural gaps there, too.
"It's an educational game we have to continue to do," Symonds said.
The game began in 1979 with a different objective. Johnson, a native of Freeport, Illinois, got the idea for specialized programming from an elderly co-worker at the National Cable Television Association, a lobby group.
The man's idea for launching a lineup aimed at society's older segment never got off the ground. But with a different spin, a $15,000 loan and large investors, BET was born.
The channel originated as a two-hour Friday night treat of steady music videos from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Today, BET offers around-the-clock television programming, including the popular "Video Soul" and "Video Vibrations."
In addition, BET Holdings - BET's parent company - publishes two magazines, Emerge, for upscale black readers, and YSB for "young sisters and brothers."
The network is offering two new programs this year - a half-hour comedy show, "Uptown Comedy Club," and a talk show hosted by Ahmad Rashad, "Off the Court," that features NBA players.
Still, most of the programming remains untouched - a source of criticism within the industry.
Some observers fault the network, a springboard for many black recording artists' careers, for offering limited programming and relying too heavily upon infomercials - half-hour product endorsements - and music videos.
Network officials, however, say the videos and infomercials help contain costs and, in turn, keep down subscriber costs.
A recent development that Symonds expects to increase costs is contending with federally regulated subscriber rates. Under a law passed in October, Congress - rather than cable operators - can set rates.
That could mean networks such as BET will get fewer dollars from operators to develop new programs for its target audience, he said.
"It puts a major dilemma on programming as far as niche service," Symonds said. "What it could do is slow down the growth."
To protect itself, BET is negotiating a 10-year contract with cable operators that could double the rate to 18 cents by 2003, Symonds said.
To date, success has come relatively easily for the network, considered the leader in black programming. But as officials try to branch out into more culturally diverse audience, they face obstacles.
For instance, in Canada, as in the United States, the perception is that only blacks are interested in a black channel, Symonds said.
Despite the success in Yellowknife, a reception in Anaheim to announce the historic signing flopped. Not one Canadian operator showed, though 20 had said they would. Nevertheless, U.S. investors generated $30 million in 1991 when given the chance to get a piece of Johnson's brainchild on the New York Stock Exchange. The company reported $9 million in earnings for the 1991 fiscal year.
Though some loyal followers of BET feared that white investors would influence programming, Johnson said he's not worried about losing control.
"When investors invest, they really invest in your style and your management skills. Nobody's going to fire Michael Jordan. The Bulls are white-owned, but he makes the money. Don't worry about owning 100 percent of a dollar, think about earning 10 percent of 1 million."
The pioneer network has moved from the sole mission of nurturing blacks through television programs, but BET is aiming at other black needs.
Johnson said he wants to launch a skin-care line, a radio station and a record label.