Black late night talk shows: sink or swim?

October 22, 1:54 AMNY African American Community ExaminerTimisha Dixon

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This channel has discussed the debut of comedian turned correspondent Marina Franklin on the Jay Leno show, and within the last 3 months, two well established celebrities in the entertainment industry have taken a stroll on late night pavement a shot, actress and comedian Mo’Nique, and singer/ radio personality Brian McKnight. Let’s see how well they’re doing:

According to broadcastingcable.com, the series premier reported that 1.5 million viewers tuned into her very first show. This was a sweet victory for BET, seeing as how it made the Mo’Nique show the highest rated show for BET this season.

Now, Mr. Mc Knight’s show on the other hand didn’t do so well, this show was highly anticipated by the CW network when they created a media buzz in March, however the show’s debut came in rather silently, and was cancelled after its second episode because of financial issues, which were mentioned by talk show host and former radio diva Wendy Williams on her morning talk show. It was said that the show even owed money to its crew members.

One would ask, what is the formula to keeping these late night show’s afloat? Ideas any one?