Study shows blacks, whites sharing more TV faves

Variety - February 12, 2001

By Michael Schneider

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - The racial divide continues to narrow -- at least when it comes to TV viewing.

This past fall, eight shows made it to the top-20 lists among both blacks and whites: "Monday Night Football," "ER," "The Practice ," "Touched by an Angel," the Tuesday and Wednesday installments of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire," "60 Minutes" and "Judging Amy." That's the greatest common ground between the two groups in at least a decade.

It's also a far cry from 1996, when just one show -- "Monday Night Football" -- made it to both top 20 lists.

The growing commonality has been documented by Manhattan-based media buyer TN Media, which takes an annual look at TV viewership among African Americans and Hispanics.

According to the fall 2000 study, released this week, "Monday Night Football" was the No. 1 series among blacks, while "ER" was tops with whites. That marks the first time in years that the top choice with blacks also appeared in the top 20 among whites, and vice versa ("MNF" is No. 14 among whites, while "ER" ranks No. 8 with blacks). Last year's top series among blacks, UPN's "The Parkers," dropped to No. 2.

ABC was the No. 1 network among both blacks and whites in fall 2000, thanks to "Millionaire" and "MNF." That's the first time in about 10 years that ABC has been tops with blacks; CBS held the crown among both blacks and whites in fall 1998 and fall 1999.

CBS is now in second place with blacks, followed by UPN, Fox, NBC and the WB. Among whites, NBC was in second place last fall, followed by CBS, Fox, the WB and UPN. Hispanics, meanwhile, overwhelmingly made Univision their favorite network, followed by Fox, ABC, Telemundo, NBC, UPN, CBS and the WB.

According to TN Media's Stacey Lynn Koerner, who authored the report, a spike in series with multiethnic ensembles helped bridge the gap between blacks and whites. Koerner said the networks aired 31 series with diverse casts last fall, up from 24 in fall 1999. That's the largest number in a decade and up 138% since 1995.

"Primetime is becoming more of a melting pot as the broadcast networks adopt more shows with ethnic characters," Koerner wrote. "The result is that black audiences have begun to sample and return to programs being offered by a greater variety of networks."

New integrated series this season included ABC's "Gideon's Crossing," CBS' "The District," NBC's "DAG," Fox's "Boston Public," UPN's "Freedom" and the WB's "Hype."

Despite those strides, however, a racial divide is still evident in primetime television. Four of the top five shows among blacks rank below No. 110 with whites.

Also, while the average primetime series attracts an audience that is 13% black, the demographic makeup of "The Parkers" audience is directly opposite: 78% of the show's viewers are black, with just 22% white.

The demo difference is especially apparent in comedy: Sitcoms on the WB are 15 times, and on UPN are 18 times, more popular with blacks than whites, while sitcoms on NBC pull ratings 80% higher among whites than blacks.

The top-rated sitcom among whites, CBS' "Everybody Loves Raymond," made it to only No. 65 among blacks, tied with NBC's "Friends" -- neither show recognized for diverse casting.

The trend toward commonality may also result from a more disturbing trend -- the long-term decline in series with black leads or casts. When the major networks moved away from series with black leads in the mid-1990s, fledgling networks the WB and UPN picked up the slack. As a result, UPN was the No. 1 network among blacks in 1996 and 1997, thanks to series such as "Moesha."

But while the WB and UPN still program comedy blocks with black leads (UPN on Monday, WB on Sunday), both have taken steps to broaden their audience profile. The WB is now dominated by young-skewing dramas, while UPN has attempted to attract young men with programs such as WWF wrestling.

Meanwhile, according to the report, black viewers (who represent 12% of TV households) and Hispanic viewers (8.7%) watch more television than their counterparts. Blacks average 75.8 hours a week across every daypart, while Hispanics average 58.6 hours and non-blacks 53.6 hours.


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