Starz’s new TV series Power has been renewed for a second season. Created by producer and writer Courtney Kemp Agboh (The Good Wife, The Bernie Mac Show), a woman of color, Power is about the complicated life of a black man, James “Ghost” St. Patrick (Omari Hardwick), who owns a popular club in New York City. He’s also a drug dealer, a husband with a mistress, and a father. (Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is an executive producer.) According to Kate Aurthur at BuzzFeed, in its first season, Power had a huge concentration of African-American viewers (71%). Aurthur also claims that The Wire and Power are “the only scripted shows on premium cable since 2006 with audiences that are more than 50% black.”
The premium cable show watched by the least number of black households is Showtime’s Homeland which stars Claire Danes, Damian Lewis. and Mandy Patinkin. The show features lots of Black Ops professionals but not many black actors, with the exception of David Harewood (David Estes) and, in the past, Chris Chalk as Tom Walker.
Omari Hardwick as James “Ghost” St. Patrick in Power, photo: Starz
