Sunday's Best For BET Gospel Show

By R. Thomas Umstead
published

Black Entertainment Television's Gospel music-tinged reality competition series Sunday Best drew its biggest audience ever in its March 8 sophomore-season premiere.

That episode - hosted by Gospel star Kirk Franklin -- averaged 1.72 million subscribers, according to the network. The audience slightly outdrew the 1.70 million viewers for the show's December 2007 freshman season finale and was up 68% over the 817,000 viewers that tuned into Sunday Best's premiere episode in October of that year.

Along with Franklin, the series returns top gospel singers Erica and Tina Campbell of Mary Mary and BeBe Winans as judges overseeing the competition to find America's next great gospel singer.

R. Thomas Umstead
R. Thomas Umstead

R. Thomas Umstead serves as senior content producer, programming for Multichannel News, Broadcasting + Cable and Next TV. During his more than 30-year career as a print and online journalist, Umstead has written articles on a variety of subjects ranging from TV technology, marketing and sports production to content distribution and development. He has provided expert commentary on television issues and trends for such TV, print, radio and streaming outlets as Fox News, CNBC, the Today show, USA Today, The New York Times and National Public Radio. Umstead has also filmed, produced and edited more than 100 original video interviews, profiles and news reports featuring key cable television executives as well as entertainers and celebrity personalities.