Greater "Heights"? and a lesson in Television 101...

So, just when I thought there would be nothing for me to be proud of on television this year, BET makes a move that even knocked my glasses a little lower on my nose than normal...


HARLEM HEIGHTS - MEET THE CAST




Photo credit: BET.com

As Neffe would say, "Are you serious?" THANK. YOU. BET. Yes, there are talented, COLLEGE-educated people out there who not only just happen to be Black like me (officially a new category), but have and are doing things...right here in New York City...down the block from Black Daria...again, no call...fine, I will just wait for my own show.

NOW HEAR THIS: If you've been complaining about what BET doesn't do, you may want to watch this show. Back in the summer I attended a session that the good folks at Viacom provide to the young whippersnappers looking to figure out where they want to go in the building. With so many opportunities, it's hard to decide, but when Debra Lee came to speak, I realized that all my television watching didn't go to waste...completely. You could equate it to the 10,000 hour theory in the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

LAUGHS. HEADS SHAKING...thinking, "What's my current facebook status?" followed by *Jeers, booos....*

Watch the banana peels...I know what you are thinking, but I will let you in on something I think you should know...

TELEVISION 101: Ad Sales

Ad Sales are the depth and breath of most cable companies...it's ad revenue that keeps the doors open and the girls girating for Bret Michaels (just being diverse and politcally correct). BET struggles because ad sales (and other dollars, but mucho in Ad Sales) retroactively will pay for those shows you love to watch, like "The Game" or "House."

Now stop. Think about how much it costs to produce those shows (excluding reality TV, as many of the women and men who make first appearances are paid little, if not a plane ticket and a nice hotel room). According to Debra Lee, a show like "The Game" costs a million dollars...per episode. Read that again, because I was equally as blown. 1 million dollars per episode x14 is...very good, 14 million dollars.

We can say that BET has taking a brutal beating, as most minority networks don't get half the dollars that are spread amongst major networks. It's a no brainer to decide whether you'll throw a couple million behind an extremely edited episode of "The Wire" that you can already watch on demand, versus a brand new American Idol...pretty interesting, huh?

What's special about Harlem Heights? It was featured at the Television Critics Association (or TCA to the nerds like myself) Winter Conference as a show that's NOT to compete with the Hills (what?) as it's purpose is to show the beauty of Harlem (yay) as well as it's diverse young professionals sprinkled about its streets.

We will see. Black Daria is waiting for her invite to the premiere party.

Oh, Harlem Heights will air March 2 on BET.

Signing off.

xoxo,
Black Daria

P.S. Talk about having a dream, huh? Remember the greatness of the Rev. Dr. MLK Jr. today...for without this man, who knows if even my blog would exist. Martin Luther King Jr. was a true outlier.