BET shaky, even in its Sunday best

Tonight’s live finale of “Sunday Best,” Black Entertainment Television’s gospel-themed reality series, will most likely shower praise on one of two aspiring vocalists competing for the honor of “America’s next great gospel star.”

More significantly, the singing competition is poised to end BET’s year on a high note after several months of controversy.

A jubilant mashup of “American Idol” and the black church, “Sunday Best” is part of a strategy by BET President Debra L. Lee and President of Entertainment Reginald Hudlin to transform the Viacom-owned network, a frequent target of critics who claim it has perpetuated negative black images since its launch in 1980. The series has scored some of the network’s best ratings this season, attracting almost a million viewers each week.

As BET enters the last stage of a three-year plan to broaden its appeal with original programming and scripted series, Hudlin maintains that “Sunday Best” and other new series such as “Baldwin Hills,” “Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is” and “American Gangster” vividly illustrate how BET has moved well beyond its menu of raunchy rap videos and footage of scantily clad dancers.

“It’s an unprecedented time at Black Entertainment Television,” Hudlin proclaimed to a gathering of TV reporters last July. The veteran producer and director, hired by the network in 2005 largely because of his Hollywood connections, pointed out that BET has been developing “the largest, most diverse aggregation of black programming in television history.”

But even though “Sunday Best” and many of its other series have connected with the network’s core audience, BET has sparked as much criticism as ever, shadowed by stumbles and questions surrounding its programming.

Although the in-your-face videos may be harder to find, leaders including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, Bill Cosby and the NAACP have complained that BET is still too reliant on negative African American stereotypes. They city the people-behaving-badly series “Hot Ghetto Mess”; a foul-mouthed animated video “Read a Book,” which liberally uses the N-word; and “Hell Date,” a “faux” reality show with the punch line that features a little person in a devil’s costume (“You’re on ‘Hell Date!’ ”).

“I was prepared to forgive the crude language and lack of creativity if there was a message encouraging viewers to read and otherwise conduct themselves responsibly,” said Jackson last summer of the “Read a Book” video in a statement released on his behalf by his Rainbow Coalition organization. Jackson’s statement went on to add that the video “takes us into the abyss.” A grass-roots coalition of church members has staged regular weekend marches each week outside the East Coast homes of Lee and Viacom Chief Executive Phillippe Dauman, protesting that BET does not reflect a broad spectrum of the black cultural experience.

Much of the network’s schedule is revamps of existing shows on other networks (Fox’s “American Idol,” the syndicated series “Blind Date” and MTV’s “The Hills”). And BET endured one of its most embarrassing chapters last summer when it attempted to rename “Hot Ghetto Mess” as “We Got to Do Better” to deflect controversy and then hung on to the original name in the broadcast versions of all the episodes.

Sitting recently in the network’s Santa Monica headquarters, Hudlin appeared unbowed by the criticisms, contending that the continuing furor over the network is indicative of a long-standing frustration.

“Changing peoples’ perception of the network will be a long time challenge,” Hudlin said. “As successful as the network is, there’s an image that 80% of our programming is just videos, when it’s actually less than 20%.”

He added: “People don’t pay attention to the big story: that BET has heard their complaints and frustrations, and that we’re going to fix them and transform the network. . . . I underestimated people’s willingness to give us the benefit of the doubt. They just aren’t willing to.”

Indeed, BET is in a difficult position -- caught in its legacy, its ambitions, its financial limitations and the long-standing hopes that the network should be an all-inclusive stop for contemporary African American culture.

“There’s this older black audience that is nostalgic for what they hoped BET would be,” said Mark Anthony Neal, a teacher of black popular culture and director of the Institute for Critical U.S. Studies at Duke University. “But the folks who run BET really have to be honest about the demographic of their audience. If we’re talking about African Americans over 35, that’s not their audience. Older audiences are turned off by a lot of stuff they do, like ‘Hell Date.’ ”

Neal also pointed out that BET is judged and criticized for its images, while series such as “Flavor of Love” and “I Love New York,” VH1’s reality-comedy programs that spotlight outrageous antics by African Americans, are virtually ignored by black leaders and advocacy groups.

Cable analysts contend that the network has made significant progress under Hudlin. Bernstein Research concluded that BET’s November ratings were up almost 4% from last year, marking the second consecutive month of positive ratings growth following 12 consecutive months of negative ratings growth dating to Oct. 2006.

“They are definitely gaining ground,” said Simon Applebaum, editor at large of Cable World, an industry trade publication. “They’re starting to get traction. BET used to be just a one-note stop with all the videos, but they have diversified their shows and achieved success. ‘Sunday Best’ certainly seems to be a sleeper show in the ‘American Idol’ vein, and Viacom certainly seems to be behind them.”

Securing the resources to produce more in-depth programming has been a challenge, Hudlin said. “Viacom has been supremely supportive of BET, and I’m extremely appreciative of that,” he said. “But the reality is we’re not going to get that ocean of money that will change programming overnight. You have to build your case from a business perspective. You have to launch some shows, and you have to succeed. You have to prove there will be a return on their investment, and they’ve got to continue to back their bet.”

Hudlin was largely unapologetic about BET’s programming: He said “Hell Date” was among the network’s most popular shows :People love it.” Those offended by the “Read a Book” video just didn’t get its satirical edge, he said. He added that the network produced “Hip Hop vs. America,” a three-hour summit featuring rappers and prominent black leaders, largely as a response to the controversy around the video, which started airing in July. (The special was actually taped in June.)

Still, many of the expectations concerning BET’s direction have been prompted by Hudlin and what he promised to bring to the network. He helped produce a live telethon in 2005 hosted by numerous African American stars for victims of Hurricane Katrina, calling the hastily organized event a touchstone in BET’s “new era.”

But last September, as CNN and other media devoted extensive coverage of the disaster’s second-year anniversary and the controversy over the lack of progress in recovery efforts, BET devoted just 30 minutes to the anniversary. Hudlin said that he was working on improving the news department and putting more focus on topical issues.

And questions surround a failed project involving Queen Latifah. Hudlin created a buzz last February when he announced that BET was joining forces with sister Viacom network VH1 and the actress to produce “Wifey,” a drama about the music industry. It was to be BET’s first scripted series and would air on both networks. In addition, Hudlin boasted that he was going to direct the pilot of the drama.

But months later, after the pilot was filmed, VH1 executives said “Wifey” was a “dead project.” Hudlin has insisted that the project still had life, but the current economic pattern of BET’s development makes it unlikely that the drama would move forward any time soon. He also declined to say whether he was paid a separate fee for directing and how he split his time between his executive duties and directing.

The most distinctive series on BET’s slate appears to have hit roadblocks. “Somebodies,” the network’s first scripted comedy about a group of male slackers, has been delayed.

The series is based on a 2006 film that was screened at Sundance but never released theatrically or on video. Although promotional materials for months touted the planned fall arrival of fallen animated sketch show “BUFU” and a daily courtroom show featuring comedian Paul Mooney, they were yanked without explanation or new premiere dates. Insiders say the Mooney show has been shelved, although no formal announcement has been made.

Despite the shortfalls, Hudlin said he was determined to bring a new look and attitude to BET that would broaden its scope. He said many of the shows such as “BUFU” were held back because the network did not want to overload the launch schedule and that those series would premiere in the first part of next year.

“It’s a long process,” he said. “BET is far from the network I want it to be, but I’m encouraged by the people watching who are excited by the changes. I’m encouraged that we’re going in the right direction.”

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