Paige Albiniak, Broadcasting & Cable, April 21, 2008
Warner Bros.’ Telepictures Productions is joining forces with Time-owned Essence magazine to expand the already-popular African-American brand across a number of platforms, including TV and the Internet.
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According to Angela Burt-Murray, Essence’s editor in chief, the magazine already reaches 40% of black women. Daytime television also often targets a female, urban demographic, but both Telepictures and Essence believe the group remains underserved, Hackner said.
First up for the relaunch is Essence’s Web site, the new version of which will be unveiled late this summer. “The new Essence.com will create the ideal launching pad for Essence’s and Telepictures’ broader collaborative efforts on innovative television programming uniquely suited for our audience,” said Michelle Ebanks, president of Essence Communications, in a statement.
{snip}
The site’s advertising will be handled largely by Essence, with a contribution from Warner Bros.’ digital-media-sales team.
Warner Bros. already had some success launching TV shows off online ventures with TMZ—a joint venture between Time Warner-owned companies Telepictures and AOL.com—now an established player in the entertainment magazine space. And last fall, Warner Bros.’ created MomLogic.com, another Web site the company hopes to turn into a TV show.
Original article
(Posted on April 23, 2008)
Comments
Daytime television targets a female, urban demographic?
Is that their way of saying black women are at home watching TV during the day instead of working?
Posted by Dennis at 4:26 PM on April 23
“Daytime television also often targets a female, urban demographic”
You mean these urban women aren’t toiling away at dead end jobs that they have to work 50 times harder at for a quarter the pay as white men? What? They aren’t working at all? Shocking.
Posted by Eric at 5:32 PM on April 23
The problem remains the same.
If you present blacks as they are and how blacks see themselves (IE, ‘keepin’ it real’), you will be accused of presenting them as stereotypes. If you present blacks as something they’re not, the audience won’t empathise with the image and there will be few views.
It’s lose-lose.
Posted by sbuffalonative at 5:42 PM on April 23
And you can be sure that lighter Black women will be chosen. Even Blacks prefer lighter skinned Black women and discriminate against others.
Posted by say no to hypocrites at 7:05 PM on April 23
“Underserved”? Anyone who watches any television realizes that the ratio of blacks to whites on TV is MUCH higher than in the USA - unless the demographics are based solely on “urban” areas.
Perhaps this is TV executive PC-speak for: “We’re after an unemployed audience of black women…women with a whole lot of time on their hands and not a great deal of ambition”.
Posted by at 8:16 PM on April 23
Back when I was exploring the possibilities of dating upscale black women as an alternative to sour-faced, prima donna white women, I used to peruse Essence. It’s not much different from Cosmopolitan, and really isn’t a bad publication as such things go.
There seem to be two main recurring themes in Essence. First, there are the self-esteem boosting articles, i.e. it’s OK to be 50 pounds overweight, burdened with children by several different men, and unattractive by the standards imposed by the white oppressors. Second, there are the extended laments about how difficult it is to find a black man who is more of an asset than a drag.
Occasionally, an article will suggest the possibility of dating white men as a fall-back alternative, but there seems to be a lot of guilt associated with it. Besides, a good number of the women interviewed express the feeling that white men simply don’t notice them or want to be around them when they can help it.
It makes for amusing reading at times and as for myself, I satisfied my curiousity about black women in a hurry. They seem more intelligent than the men, but every bit as emotional and impulsive. And they definitely have a knack for mismanaging money, overextending themselves financially, and hoping their newfound white-boy will pick up the pieces for them.
Posted by Kevin at 8:29 PM on April 23
“Daytime television also often targets a female, urban demographic, but both Telepictures and Essence believe the group remains underserved, Hackner said.”
Laughable, utterly laughable!
So they want a “network” that feeds black females an endless stew of mind ossifying and man hating offal, that rivals something akin to Lifetime or Oxygen for white women?
I hope black males enjoy watching their females endlessly: beaten, raped, and killed by their own kind, while angelic white policemen and noble Hispanic social workers undo their fictionalized horrors? I also hope they enjoy specifically targeted advertising for everything from tampons to tea, that encourages black females to date and breed with “Native” Americans and Australian aborigines, because they are so much more preferable to them?
I just wonder how Oprah and Rosie fit into the daily programming roster?
On the other hand, some questions beg for no answer!
Posted by John PM at 8:47 PM on April 23
But this was compensated for by making one Miss America.
I could find a prettier/smarter white woman in my town in 30 minutes.
Posted by Whiteplight at 10:10 PM on April 23
I don’t know about “underserved” but it seems to me that black women definitely are underrepresented in the MSM, with the focus clearly being the black male (though I must admit, I don’t watch T.V.). They’ve gone to such extremes to focus on black males that they’ve actually forgotten that there are female blacks too. Now, if only they could represent whites accurately, they might be making progress.
Posted by jewamongyou at 1:40 AM on April 24
“I don’t know about “underserved” but it seems to me that black women definitely are underrepresented in the MSM”
Then you clearly don’t watch much television or see much advertising posters at malls.
Posted by Up at 8:40 AM on April 24
I was channel surfing a while back and came across a show called Tyra.I caught the tail end of it.It was a show on black women being overlooked(or not looked at at all)by men.The black men naturally,picked white women first,and Hispanic or Oriental women second and third.Tyra scolded them for not picking,and degrading black women,as she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair,and batted her big blue (contact lenses)eyes,and rub her light colored skin,and straight narrow nose, and thin body.Why there are literally millions of women who are dying with envy to have dark brown and black skin,flat broad noses,woolly black hair and a body that would emulate Esther Rolle(Good Times).Tyra scolded white,black,hispanic,and oriental men for not picking the 300 pound beauties,how dare them!!!!!!!
Posted by at 11:11 AM on April 24
Undoubtedly, this new venture will elevate even higher the benefits, worth, and quality of our televison experience here in America.
Posted by Gary at 12:34 PM on April 24
“If you present blacks as they are and how blacks see themselves (IE, ‘keepin’ it real’), you will be accused of presenting them as stereotypes. If you present blacks as something they’re not, the audience won’t empathise with the image and there will be few views.”
As someone who has watched BET and the like occassionally, I’d have to say the makers of these shows are obsessed with the hippest and latest slang from ‘urban areas’ first and foremost. The propaganda means nothing if few are willing to sit and watch. Much of the lesson is about doing what is right but much of it is also about being true to your fellow blacks - fellow persons of color, at the expense of whites and their evil dastardly system.
Posted by at 1:22 PM on April 24
I think more cable shows geared to blacks is fantastic, since I don’t want cable anyway. Netflix is the only way, no commercials and no minorities.
Posted by Lars at 6:19 PM on April 24
Here are your two choices for media: 1) diverse or 2) all black. As a consumer with some discretionary income and a good credit rating, it may be helpful for advertisers to know that I click the off button at the sight of the first shoehorned diversity character. Mostly that happens in the first five minutes. Rarely, it doesn’t happen at all.
Advertisers should also know that when advertising on black media or black-oriented programs, a good share of the audience is comprised of shoplifters so they will not be ‘buying’ the product anyway.
Posted by Civilized Neighbor at 2:04 PM on April 25
