Howard University used to have a deal with the local PBS station here in D.C. and produced exclusive programming that was a total fantasy of what BET could be.
My friends and I would say Howard University TV should be cable syndicated and they would make a mint.
They are a cooperative with PBS so some of their programming overlaps, still a cool station though for those looking to find more positive images of Black folk on TV.
http://www.whut.org/
I've heard BET founder Robert Johnson in interviews explain that he tried to appeal to the lowest common denominator of the Black entertainment audience because he was all about ratings and what people wanted to watch.
He's a punk.
There's new cable networks like Centric and TVOne, but IMO they are they are little better than BET with not much original programming.
If Black folk would complain in front of a camera more often about how much BET sucks, maybe it would help to improve their content.