BET's President explains why she doesn't offer more positive programming.

At a screening for a new BET documentary, someone asked Lee if the network was going to aim for better programming, with Lee stating that, ”Over the 28 years I’ve been at BET, we’ve tried different shows, series and nightly news, and it’s always a matter of what are people going to show up to watch. We started a new show last week called Don’t Sleep! With T.J. Holmes, which is supposed to address these kinds of issues. It’s designed to be a mix of entertainment and news and commentary. We hoped it would have been a Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert-type show.”
Lee then went on to explain that the ratings game is what drives her to continue with content that is less than desirable:
“To be honest, the ratings haven’t been great in the past two weeks (referring to Holmes’ show). Our audience always says they want this kind of programming, but they don’t show up,” Lee said.