ssetta said:
I did notice there's quite a few areas in Massachusetts that don't get BET. Is there an actual reason for it? If so, I'd like to know why.
Many areas in New England don't get BET on cable because (often) the demographics haven't been there to support it. As the channel targets blacks, in pre-digital days, the distribution was limited to areas where there was/is a sizable black audience. In other words, most Boston suburbs have demos where blacks make up less than 5% of the population. Not enough demand for BET to take up one of what was once probably 36 to 80 channel slots. In areas where there is a higher percentage, BET generally was/is offered. I know that's long been the case in Boston/Cambridge, Brockton and Revere.
Of course, now that we have digital TV with space for hundreds of channels, BET should have carriage most everywhere. But, if it's missing, it's probably a vestige of the days when providers tended to prioritize channel offerings by what they thought their subs wanted to see.
Same reason that Boston is so underserved by urban formatted radio stations, though I maintain that such a station could do well (subject for a different thread).
The same thing happens with Spanish language channels, by the way. There are many more offerings in areas with large Spanish-speaking populations (in addition to must-carry locals) than you'd see in places where such populations are very small. Examples of the latter would be places like Buffalo, Cleveland, and much of northern New England (beyond southern NH). Go there and often you'll find only one Spanish non-local offered on basic tier cable.
