PatrickMcMullan.com via AP Images

African Americans are changing their TV viewing habits. As we reported recently, more blacks are tuning in to cable  TV. And that includes cable news channels. Case in point, the newly released ratings for MSNBC. The channel has recently seen a 60.5 percent black audience increase in 2012.

One of the reasons blacks viewers are tuning in is the network’s “progressive leaning approach to the news and wide array of Black hosts and pundits likely helped cause the increase,” writes Ebony. The channel already had a significant number of viewers who were African American, and this only adds to its dominance with black viewers. Compare this with CNN, which saw an increase of  23.7% of black viewers. And Fox News, not surprisingly, had a decrease in its black audience numbers. (Fox News’ Hannity actually shed about half of its viewers after the election some think because the show was so wrong about how the voting was going to go.)

Andrew Toth/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)

MSNBC has an array of black hosts and pundits, including Toure, Melissa Harris-Perry, Tamron Hall, Joy-Ann Reid, Karen Finney, Michael Steele, Rev. Al Sharpton, Eugene Robinson, Jonathan Capehart, and Goldie Taylor.

“I think we made a commitment, we decided, that in order for this channel to succeed, that we had to reflect the country. This meant that we had to be part of the country in ways that the other channels weren’t,” remarked MSNBC president Phil Griffith recently, as reported by Ebony.

“We have a diverse on-air group of people, because that matters, and people want to know that we reflect their world. And it’s not just a single show – it’s across the board. You look at the guests every hour and we make sure that we have women, African Americans, everything, and I think to spend a day watching MSNBC is to see America as we have seen it.”

s_bukley / Shutterstock.com

It seems actress Meagan Good has a new hit on her hands. The new TV show she is starring in, Deception, pulled in respectable ratings on its debut and helped NBC win the first Monday of 2013. According to EUR, the season premiere of the drama drew in 5.6 million viewers.

In the new drama, Good plays a San Francisco police detective trying to solve the murder of her socialite best friend. Good has appeared on a variety of TV shows but never starred in one. So this ratings news will  just confirm she can carry a show.

Good told Vibe shes ready for the comparison with Scandal, another TV drama with an African-American actress in the lead role. But she says the comparisons stop there. “[I]t’s a completely different story line and it has totally different characters. There are many different things happening with all of the characters on the show,” she tells the magazine.

In a show of support, Kerry Washington sent her congrats (via Twitter) to Good over the ratings success. Indeed, it’s great to see these two women encouraging and supporting each other when so often we hear about jealousy and backbiting. Kudos ladies!

But will Deception become as popular as Scandal? Did you watch?

Oprah with Dave Letterman, who recently appeared on “Oprah’s Next Chapter.” AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Oprah’s OWN has announced that 2012 saw year-over-year ratings gains, with primetime ratings for women ages 25 to 54 up 32 percent and total day ratings up 44 percent for all viewers. Ms. Winfrey’s own series, Oprah’s Next Chapter, featuring interviews with celebrities will also continue, with upcoming episodes featuring Drew Barrymore, LL Cool J, and Whitney Houston’s mother Cissy Houston.

“All of these new programs reflect the best of the human spirit.  From the funny to the dramatic, we are always shooting for to-the-bone real,” said Sheri Salata, president of OWN, in a statement about the new programs. “Whether it’s Oprah’s in-depth conversations with celebrities and newsmakers, or our new scripted programming from Tyler Perry, the people and characters in these shows share experiences and life stories in relatable and authentic ways.”

Tyler Perry will join the Oprah Winfrey Network in 2013, as OWN and parent company Discovery Communications announced six new series that will debut on the network this year.

Perry’s one-hour drama The Haves and the Have-Nots will follow a wealthy family, and the family of their housekeeper, while his half-hour comedy Love Thy Neighbor will tell the stories of the friends and neighbors who spend time at Love’s Diner.

The other shows announced by the network are Blackboard Wars, which follows the transformation of New Orleans’ John McDonogh High School; Golden Sisters, a reality show following the trio of senior sisters who became famous after a video of them watching a celebrity sex tape went viral; Raising Whitley, the story of a comedienne who raises a baby with the help of her friends; and Dogfellas, the story of former street enforcer James “Head” Guiliani, who opened a dog grooming business in Brooklyn.

Are you watching?

Pictured: Charlamagne Tha God & DJ Envy; Source: PNP/WENN

When you’re famous and your spouse becomes fed up with your antics, all you can do is apologize…publicly.  Well, that’s the route New York radio personality DJ Envy took with his wife, Gia.

On Friday during Power 105′s Breakfast Club, co-host Charlamagne Tha God was awarding his daily “Donkey of the Day Award.”  To the surprise of listeners, the award went to fellow Breakfast Club host DJ Envy, with Charlamagne saying, “Something is off.  You’re looking stressed, you’re balling up in the corner in the fetal position, your radio/dj game is off…I know I gotta talk to my friend.  Whatever personal issues which are causing you to age drastically, like you listen to Adele records…I’m asking as a friend if you need some personal time off. Why has your game been off?”

After a “pregnant pause,” DJ Envy revealed:

“Shout to my wife. I been with my wife 18 years and sometimes you don’t treat the person well. You think they’ll always be there.  Its been a point where I’ve treated my wife like ish. It has to do with the small things you don’t do anymore.”

As the show continued, Envy went on to reveal that he’s gotten to the point where he doesn’t appreciate her and has taken her for granted.  Further, in a shaky voice, he revealed that he buys Gia things versus complimenting her or taking her out and making her feel like a wife.  In an attempt to make the situation better, he decided to call his “queen” on the air.  He then told her that he knows  he’s not been there for her, hes’ not been honest or loyal and he regrets everything he’s done to her and sincerely apologizes for everything.  At the end of the conversation, a seemingly shocked Gia told Envy she loved him as well and to call her when he was off the radio.

Whatever Envy has done to his wife (and there are many things you can assume based on his apology alone), he seems to really feel bad about it now. The hope is that this was a very sincere apology, especially since they have two children together and almost 20 years together (they were high school sweethearts). However, with the Breakfast Club in a ratings war with Hot 97′s Cipha Sounds & Rosenberg morning show as well as Gia allegedly joining the cast of Real Housewives of New Jersey, there’s a chance this was all for publicity and better ratings. There’s no question that in a local radio war, listeners will opt to listen to the station that makes them feel like they can relate to them.

Perhaps we’ll see when RHONJ airs this summer where they are in their relationship. Marriage is hard and since Envy seems to know that he is solely to blame, we hope he does his best to get his family back together and the chips fall where they should.

If your significant was not treating you the way they should, would you think that a public apology would be a good way for them to go?

If you’d like to listen, the conversation starts around 22:15.

Wavebreakmedia /Shutterstock

The recent announcement by international media measurement firm Nielsen that it will buy radio ratings and media research company Arbitron is being met with cautious optimism by black radio and multicultural media  institutions.

“Nielsen’s acquisition of Arbitron is welcome news for multicultural entrepreneurs, programmers and audiences,”  David Honig, president of the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council told Target Market News. “Nielsen has unparalleled expertise in accurately measuring multicultural viewership… it’s reassuring that the leading audience measurement company has such an outstanding record of accurately and thoroughly measuring multicultural populations across several technologies.”

Added Jim Winston, executive director of the National Association of Black Owned Broadcasters, “We are concerned that such mergers often result in rate increases to customers, and we would not want to see that happen. We are cautiously optimistic that this will be very good news for the television and radio industries.”

In the past, urban radio has been at odds with the way Arbitron calculates multicultural listenership. In fact, the disputes even hit the halls of Congress.  Due to challenges over its rating gathering methods by the PPM Coalition (made up of Black and Hispanic broadcasters), Arbitron testified to Congress in 2007 about its measurement techniques and the under-counting of minority listeners.  Even The Media Ratings Council was unsatisfied with Arbitron’s methods and declined to certify Arbitron’s methods in all of its markets.

“Arbitron has found itself in a number of long standing legal disputes over its sampling of Black and Hispanic audiences. These grievances came to a head when the ratings measurement company introduced its Personal People Meter and once high-rated Urban stations fell from dominance in major markets,” reports Target Market News.

A fight even ensued in the  courtroom when the Attorneys General of New York and New Jersey filed a lawsuit in 2008 against Arbitron’s measurement of Black and Hispanic listeners. A settlement was reached: Arbitron paid $260,000 for fraud and illegality, $100,000 to minority trade associations to support minority radio, and $25,000 for an ad campaign promoting minority radio.  The Attorneys General of Florida and California also brought suits against the company, which too were settled.

Nielsen, on the other hand,  has expanded its efforts of reporting minority ratings. According to Target Market News, “It has created external advisory councils representing communities of color, instituted a minority supplier development initiative, and reached out to Black, Hispanic and Asian consumers through numerous public relations efforts.”

Photo by Todd Williamson/Invision/AP

The Scandal is growing. The ABC show created by Shonda Rhimes saw a boost in black viewers during the first week of December.

According to the Nielsen ratings, Scandal had a 14 percent increase in black households.  While Scandal is soaring, the other other top 25 shows saw a decline. The number one show for the first week of December, Sunday Night Football, had a 20 percent decrease in black viewers in comparison to  the previous week.

Despite the drop  for its Sunday Night Football, the folks over at NBC are happy. NBC was the most watched network among black households. “It attracted 10.5 million viewers for seven shows. In second was CBS with 8.5 million viewers for its eight top shows. Fox took third place with 8.3 million across six shows,” according to Target Market News.

In all, the top 25 shows in black homes, according to Nielsen, saw a 10 percent drop in the total number of viewers from the previous week to 33.3 million.  Besides Sunday Night Football and Scandal, the number two show in black homes, the top 25 also included The OT, the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show,  and Rhimes’s  other creation Grey’s Anatomy.

Source: WENN

Last week, Shaunie O’neal, the so-called brainchild behind the “Basketball Wives” Miami and Los Angeles reality shows, hinted that she might be firing everyone on the LA cast considering their ratings are in the toilet. When a follower asked her to cancel the show on Twitter, Shaunie retorted with “how about a complete makeover?” i.e. getting rid of all those boring brawds and bringing in some new ladies so she could still get a paycheck.

Never one to hold her tongue, when Laura Govan heard that news she didn’t immediately trip — at least at the idea of bringing in some new faces. But what she does have a problem is Shaunie acting like she’s running things.

“I might say that I would agree with her,” Laura told Sister 2 Sister about the potential revamp. “A makeover is needed, but I don’t know to what extent.”

About that shade though?

“If you gonna have your name stamped on something, you should definitely support it,” Laura added criticizing Shaunie’s response to her follower.

What’s worse is Laura says Shaunie is taking credit for something she doesn’t even have anything to do with, claiming “Basketball Wives LA” was actually her sister Gloria’s idea, saying:

“Shaunie has nothing to do with ‘BBWLA.’”

Getting back to that makeover idea though, Laura did have one suggestion for which direction the show should go in, should everyone get the axe.

“If it’s ‘Basketball Wives,’ then let’s hold this title,” she said. “At least have some basketball affiliation. At least keep it in the group, just have an affiliation. I’ve been with my guy 12 years, regardless of marriage or not. I’ve paid my dues. Give me some people who have paid their dues.”

“At the end of the day, the title is called ‘Basketball Wives,’ at least play basketball. Let’s not just have the groupies. Get that for another show. That could be the jump-off show.”

Says the woman who’s “guy” had a gag order against her for the entire first season of the show and maybe just got Gilbert Arenas to put a ring on it. Ohhh-taaay.

Thoughts?

Wendy Williams at the Betsey Johnson fashion show last month. Image: Owen Hoffmann/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa USA (Sipa via AP Images)

The latest daytime ratings numbers show that black viewers are tuning in to Steve Harvey, The Wendy Williams Show, and Trisha Goddard but steering clear of Katie, Katie Couric’s new daytime show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and Rachael Ray’s program.

African Americans make up 13 percent of the U.S. population, but 18 percent of the daytime viewing audience. Wendy Williams is out in front, capturing 56.1 percent of black viewers. Right behind is Trisha Goddard, capturing 55.2 percent of the audience. And Steve Harvey comes in at 43.5 percent. The last two shows are new.

Edging out Harvey are Maury and Jerry Springer, who capture 50.6 percent and 48.4 percent of the audience respectively. That’s kind of depressing.

The Hollywood Reporter has graphed all the action, showing the ups and downs for black viewers in the daytime race. Who knew all this was happening on TV while you were at work?

Last month, we took a look at the crop of new black male hosts that were heading to daytime TV. Irrespective of ratings, there was excitement about the prominent showcase that daytime TV provides for black men. In that respect, it’s great news that Steve Harvey is finding a dedicated audience and attracting phenomenal guests like Michelle Obama.

THR predicts that the arrival of Queen Latifah on the daytime schedule next fall is going to mix things up dramatically. We’d have to agree. Queen Latifah has a gaggle of fans who will love the chance to hang out with her for 30 minutes or an hour each day. Some of this season’s shows could also be shed if they don’t get big overall ratings. To be honest, we’re surprised that The Chew is still on the air and that Ricki Lake isn’t doing better.

Do you have a favorite daytime show? Let us know.

Keyshia Cole at the Black Girls Rock! ceremony this past weekend. Image: D. Salters/WENN.com

It’s been a rating blitz over at BET recently. According to Target Market News, BET sets records with the Hip Hop Awards and Keyshia & Daniel: Family First.

The BET Hip Hop Awards aired on Tuesday, October 9 and attracted 3.1 million viewers among 2.1 million households, despite some drama. This gave the awards show a 2.3 coverage rating, making it the number one hip-hop-themed telecast on TV for the past seven consecutive years.

But the good news for BET didn’t stop there. Keyshia Cole and her family also proved to be a TV favorite. The new show Keyshia & Daniel, which also aired on October 9, had 2.9 million people tuning in, ranking a 2.2 coverage rating. Thus far, Keyshia & Daniel is the top new reality series debut telecast on cable in 2012 among total viewers and adults. Keyshia & Daniel: First Family was also a success in social media. It scored in the top five most social shows on cable with over 70,000 interactions, trending worldwide with trending topic “KEYSHIAANDDANIEL” according to Trendrr.tv.

The show revolves around the family life of Cole  and her basketball star  husband, Daniel Gibson. Cole, who is one of the executive producers of the show, is no stranger to realty show success on BET. From 2006 to 2008, Cole along with her mother and sister had a hit show on BET called Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is.

Source: Gossip On This

Based on our mentions when we live-tweet through “Basketball Wives LA” on Monday nights we kind of had an inkling no one was really watching the show, but we didn’t realize no one was watching.

Rhymes With Snitch sort of blew the lid off the ratings fail, using data from TV By The Numbers which shows this ranking for BBWLA this past week:

Basketball Wives LA 2

VH1

8:00 PM

1.198

0.6

FYI, 0.6 is not a good rating. The slip has actually been pretty gradual for season 2 of “Basketball Wives LA” which premiered with 1.81 million views in September, dropped to 1.4 million the next week, and is now hovering somewhere below the 1.2 million mark. Just to be clear it’s these ladies and not VH1, “T.I. and Tiny,” which comes on after BBWLA, is pulling in better rank with 1.34 million views this past Monday, and even “Chrissy and Mr. Jones” beat out both of them with 1.41 million views.

None of these shows is anywhere close to the figures rache’ “Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta” pulled in, which hovered around 3.7 million viewers during its first season, but if BBWLA’s rank keeps dropping these ladies could soon find themselves unemployed. And since none of the cast members appears to have a plan B (besides being video chicks) I’m thinking they better step up their side hustle game in the next few weeks.

Have you been watching “Basketball Wives LA” at all?

More on Madame Noire!

• Where Are They Now? The Real Hollywood Exes (And Mistresses) Of Music’s Biggest Players
• True Life: I Had To Learn The Hard Way
• Self-Pity? No Thanks: Why I Love The Chocolate Skin I’m In
• Well That’s…Interesting: Mimi Is Writing A Book On Warning Signs Of Dating Men In The Industry
• Ask A Very Smart Brotha: Why Falling In Love Is A Choice (And Why I Hate Romantic Comedies)
• Fall Into Your Feelings: How Autumn Will Affect Your Love Life
• Well, You Don’t Say: 9 Celebrities, Ballers, Authors And Vixens You Might Not Have Known Were Virgin Islanders