Lawyers would base claims on the 1934 Federal Communications Act that makes the airwaves public property. Indeed, most advertising and programming bosses are white and air material that appeals to them. Mfume seems to have forgotten, however, that prime-time TV is showbiz and that showbiz is not about social and cultural crusades. It is about mega-bucks. They know America.
Surveys indicate that black shows, particularly sitcoms, and characters turn off most white viewers.
With blacks constituting only 13 percent of the population and with only a tiny part of that number interested in network fare, network moguls do not see a natural need to create black shows. Whites prefer upscale, white-oriented shows infused with slick repartee, such as Seinfeld, Friends and Frazier. A few years ago, they tuned in to Cheers. On the other side, only a handful of African-Americans watch the major white sitcoms. Blacks do not like white stuff.