are early adapters when it comes to video-capable, interactive cell phones, PDAs, and gaming devices. In fact, black consumers are on par with or over index of the national average when it comes using such devices.
Given the inevitable death of appointment TV, if savvy, forward-thinking, black, would-be entertainment moguls can establish viable business models to capture a healthy share of eyeballs and eventually advertising dollars, black creative talent and viewers will no longer find themselves at the mercy of the handful of people in Hollywood who have the power to say yes or no to what arrives on our screens.
Just as Berry Gordy did with black music, and John Johnson and Earl G. Graves Sr. did with publishing, black America needs that astute, pioneering visionary who can transform the African American appetite for visual entertainment content into sustainable entities that will proudly represent the black experience for many years to come.
George Alexander’s column on the business of entertainment appears weekly at blackenterprise.com. He is the author of “Why We Make Movies” (Random House, $15.95).