John Consoli

Fox this fall will be the only broadcast network to offer prime-time shows featuring primarily African-American casts. Listening to Fox’s entertainment president Kevin Reilly explain it, that’s not a conscious move. He says his choices have more to do with the quality of the shows themselves and less with the ethnicity of the actors. “The shows we put on the air are about people in general, not targeting a specific audience,” he explains.

But Reilly readily admits that Fox has a history of slating with black casts, dating back to sketch comedy In Living Color in Fox’s early days and including Martin, Roc, The Bernie Mac Show and Eddie Murphy’s claymation vehicle, The Pjs.

This fall, Fox has slated sitcom Brothers, starring former NFL star Michael Strahan and Carl Weathers, and Family Guy’s animated spinoff The Cleveland Show—both feature black casts. Additionally, Fox has added The Wanda Sykes Show to its late night lineup on Saturdays.

Fox finds itself alone in the space among broadcast networks after The CW cancelled its two remaining African-American sitcoms, The Game and Everybody Hates Chris.

Dawn Ostroff, The CW’s entertainment president, explains she was happy with the shows creatively, but audiences “never embraced them” in sufficient numbers to cover production costs.

One broadcast network executive, who declined to speak for attribution, notes, “It’s sad, but it’s all about economics. If these ethnic shows can’t do a successful rating, you can’t cover the cost of production. And unfortunately, unless you have a big crossover star—like Bill Cosby when his show was on the air—the general audience isn’t going to watch these shows in enough numbers to keep them on the air.”

Fox sales president Jon Nesvig strongly disagrees. Nesvig says he is “thrilled to have these new shows on the air…It will bring new viewers into our tent, viewers that are often neglected when programming is put together. And this will give our advertisers some extended reach.”

Aaron Cohen, chief media negotiating officer at Horizon Media, adds that he believes advertisers are color blind and “will put their money where the ratings are.”

While fellow broadcasters are shying away from African-American casts, cable network TBS has embraced the demographic, based on its success with Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, a black sitcom. Its premiere in June 2007 generated cable’s highest viewer level for a sitcom: 5.8 million.

So far in 2009, House of Payne has averaged 3.1 million viewers per night. In January, TBS even added a second Perry vehicle, Meet the Browns, which averaged 3.4 million viewers for its initial 10-episode run.

But broadcasters, for the most part, remain unwilling to commit entire shows and casts to any ethnic group—for now. “We’re no longer rolling in cash,” says one broadcast executive. “Maybe a show with co-leads like LL Cool J and Chris O’Donnell in CBS’ NCIS: Los Angeles may start the ball rolling again.”