The African-American audience is clearly important to UPN, so much so that UPN president of entertainment Tom Nunan doesn't mind it being called "the black network."

Nunan says the network's "main goal is to reflect the way America looks and is, in terms of a diverse collection of performers, not just in terms of their ethnicity, but in terms of their sex and age as well."

"As an alternative network," he says, "we always have to be thinking a little bit differently and programming a little bit differently so that the viewer has that relationship with us: 'Oh, this doesn't look or feel like the big networks.'"

One of those big networks used to share UPN's reputation. Fox debuted in 1986, and several of its early shows had African-American themes. But in the 1999-2000 season, the SAG report found Fox in last place in all of the categories that UPN led; only 3.2 percent of all the network's regular characters were African-American.

Steve Johnson, TV critic for the Chicago Tribune, says that, historically, "a new network starts up, and they need to put some numbers on the board right away. And the way they do that is by appealing to black audiences in the larger cities, and essentially they milk that for a few years, and when they're ready to move on, like Fox, they drop those shows."

Fox executives were not available for comment. But UPN's Nunan, who worked for Fox during the period that it was known for shows like "In Living Color" and "Martin" -- not "The X-Files" or "Ally McBeal" -- says of Johnson's thesis, "I think it does ring with a certain degree of truth in terms of history."

Fox "had enormous success with those shows," he says, and Fox "did rely on this audience when they were starting up and now they've abandoned it, by perception. Whether or not that's actually something they set out to do, who knows. But that's what happened."

So does UPN plan to drop its current slate of African-American programs when its audience reaches a certain point? "This audience is extremely valuable to us," Nunan says. "In embodying the reputation of being alternative to the viewer, part of that is with different ethnic groups that don't feel as though there's anything that connects with them on the other networks, including seeing faces that look like them. And it's going to continue to be a big priority for us going ahead."

Still, he admits that his network, like all others, has "to find a way to make money and try to build upon our revenue year by year." Right now, he says, UPN's audience is "absolutely ... valuable" and the network is delivering the right audience to the right companies.

Still, he says, "there's some talk [about] whether or not this audience is valuable to Madison Avenue, because ultimately all of these networks are just advertising tools or mediums."

- - - - - - - - - - - -

But advertisers aren't solely responsible for the way African-Americans are portrayed on network TV. Hunt, who is the chairman of the department of sociology and director of African-American studies at the University of Southern California, says that the problem is systemic and partially the fault of "industry inertia."

"Creative people of color are underemployed at every stage in the production process, leading to a prime time that underrepresents people of color and their stories, while often portraying the ones who are shown in implausible and unsuccessful ways," Hunt says.

So when African-Americans do appear on television, how do they appear? Although Hunt's SAG study only analyzed characters' professions, and not any other aspects of their personalities, Hunt says that he's concerned that just over half of all black characters appeared in sitcoms, compared with 30.2 percent of white characters. "This, of course, raises the specter of the age-old black buffoon stereotype, and the corresponding fear that black characters are most acceptable to the larger audience when they are bumbling, comedic and not meant to be taken very seriously," he says.

The content of the shows can be subtly negative, too, and can even come during commercial breaks. A study just released by the University of Chicago's Children's Hospital found that "black prime-time television contains 60 percent more food and beverage commercials, more images of candy and soda, and more obese characters than general prime-time television." The researchers say that "may influence the eating behaviors of African-Americans," who are more overweight as a group (60 percent) than the population as a whole (54 percent).

Even the networks with strong minority representation may have less-than-ideal content in their shows. For example, although UPN's programming may be progressive in the sheer quantity of African-American shows and performers who appear on its lineup, most of the network's shows are sitcoms, like "Moesha" and "The Hughleys."

UPN's Nunan defends programs like "The Parkers." They're not "debasing in any fashion," he says, but rather feature "aspirational" situations and "positive role models ... not just for the African-American viewer, but for any viewer."

Nunan says that the length and genre of the show aren't what matter. "That they're half-hour comedies and there's a laugh track,I don't think at all harks back to the days of 'Amos 'n' Andy' or Stepin Fetchit." He points to the "leading roles with ethnic Americans in all of our programming, half-hour, one-hour and reality" as evidence of the network's far-reaching diversity.

Recent Stories