TV One offers an alternative to BET
Alicia Haliday has been bored with Black Entertainment Television and its heavy focus on music for years.
So in between clients recently, the 32-year-old Dorchester hairstylist started scanning the dozens of channels available on digital cable. There she found TV One, BET's first serious competitor.
''I saw this lineup with Patti LaBelle and Tom Joyner. I was like, 'What is all this?'," says Haliday, who works at Mattapan's Finest Barbers and Hairstylists.
TV One launched on
''We have a lineup of shows we watch from 10 to 3," she says. ''I watch it at night too. It's my exclusive station now."
To be sure, TV One isn't available in nearly as many homes as BET nationwide. But it is also targeting an older audience, 25- to 49-year-olds, which explains why it hasn't aired a single music video.
Instead the network -- which is owned by Comcast Corp.,
In one recent episode, he said his sea bass was ''nice and brown, just like we like the ladies."
On Sunday, ''Divine Restoration" premiered. This weekly makeover show targets churches in need of repairs and attempts to replace steeples, upgrade altars or Sunday schools, or restore stained glass.
''Living It Up With Patti LaBelle" chronicles the singer's life as she shops for shoes in her hometown of Philadelphia, visits a spa in Harlem, and tours in Europe.
Other original fare includes a dating game show hosted by syndicated radio personality Russ Parr and a variety show hosted by syndicated radio host Tom Joyner.
To fill its 24-hour schedule, TV One is also broadcasting old episodes of ''Good Times," ''Martin," ''227," and ''It's Showtime at the Apollo."
The Maryland-based network, which launched in a handful of cities nationwide in January 2004, is available in 19.5 million homes. BET, now 25 years old, is available in 80 million homes.
A lesser-known competitor, Atlanta-based Black Family Channel, is available in 14.9 million homes, including in Massachusetts on Comcast's Channel 235. The Black Family Channel has kid-friendly shows such as a spelling bee with a $1,000 prize, as well as black college sporting events, a show featuring poets, and a program that critiques music videos.
As with any underserved market, expectations for TV One are high. Already, some experts have rolled out a wish list that includes documentaries, news coverage and analysis, political commentary, explorations of Africa and its heritage, and the return of beloved series with black casts that failed on broadcast TV, such as Tim Reid's 1987 drama ''Frank's Place."
''There's tons that could be done. The question is, how rich is the programming going to be?" said J. Fred MacDonald, author of ''Blacks and White TV: African Americans in Television Since 1948." A Chicago-area resident, MacDonald has been watching TV One for more than a year. ''They're off to a promising start. But Comcast has the money to do more. We won't get the programming we want by appealing to morality. African-Americans have to start subscribing and demanding the programming."
Donald Bogle, author of ''Bright Boulevards, Bold Dreams: The Story of Black Hollywood," believes TV One could be a black version of HBO, where cutting-edge original dramas and films are found.
''I understand that no individual actor, or TV series, or cable network can answer all the needs of an entire race," he said. ''But TV One could do the things that no other network dares to do, like create black dramas. There are so many African-American filmmakers out there looking for work. This could open the door."
For their part, TV One executives appreciate the support but not the pressure. Realistically, original scripted programming -- a genre that is struggling even on the big networks -- will take years to develop, they say.
''We have to be astute at playing in the areas where we can actually win," says Lee Gaither, TV One's executive vice president of programming and production. ''No one has asked VH1 when they're going to have a news division. Every network can't do all things."
Yes, TV One is planning some meatier programs, such as a financial-advice series featuring syndicated columnist Michelle Singletary, which is currently in production, Gaither says.
But there will be more reality shows coming too, including a celebrity bid whist series that is launching in May.
Scripted dramas and comedies won't be developed in the near future, Gaither says, because they're too expensive to produce. ''I think we're a few years away from that," he says.
BET executives say they welcome the competition but disagree that their network, which targets 18- to -34-year-olds, is underserving the market. ''It's unfortunate that people continue to try to sell BET short," says Michael Lewellen, a spokesman. In BET's defense, he cites seven original series on the network including ''College Hill," a reality show about black colleges, ''Coming to the Stage," a reality series about comics, and ''BET Nightly News," the only national newscast on television that is focused on African-Americans. Lewellen says, ''We are not just airing music videos."
As network executives face off over viewers, the battle appears to be won at Mattapan's Finest.
Since its launch here in December, TV One has replaced BET as the primary channel the stylists watch at the shop.
Who can compete with G. Garvin?
Says Haliday, ''He's a good-looking brother and he can cook. Please!"
Suzanne Ryan can be reached at sryan@globe.com.
