*Steve Harvey is definitely one of the hardest working men in media and showbiz. He’s working across media platforms.
He has a successful radio morning show, hosts “Family Feud,” is in season three of his talk show and is an acclaimed author with “Think Like a Man” and “Act Like a Success, Think Like a Success.”
Harvey talked with Essence.com about his successful talk show and book as well as diversity on TV.
Harvey opened up about how involved he is with his daytime talk show — making sure everything is ran by him beforehand.
“I’m involved because if it’s anything I don’t want to do, it’s not going to happen. Now, because it’s daytime TV, I am conscious that things that are not important to me may be important to my viewers,” he said.
He added, “I don’t have to know how to refinish a cabinet because I’m just going to go get another cabinet. I’ve got to remember that my audience may need this information.”
As the host of a daytime talk show and radio morning show, the audiences differ. Therefore, Harvey makes sure to cater to all of his audiences for each platform.
“I can cover a broader base on the TV show. Television, like the clothing industry, is very race based. It’s like if someone has a line of clothes made by a Black person they’ll tell me point-blank, ‘We already have an urban line.’ What the hell is an urban line? Calvin Klein, Hugo Boss and Donald Trump—they all make the exact same suit,” he said.
He continued with, “nobody says that to them. It’s frustrating at times but I’ve been trying to say to people that I can cross all genres and I can eradicate the race barrier on daytime television. I’ve proven it. I probably have the most diverse TV show on TV today. I’m very proud of that fact. There are shows with higher ratings, like Ellen and Dr. Phil, but as far as really being more diverse, more people coming to the table. I think I’ve been very successful at that.”
He managed to bridge a diversity gap with his daytime show. Although his favorite shows on TV are his talk show and “Family Feud,” he opened up about how diversity is improving on daytime TV.
“It has changed, I think, for the better. I choose not to accentuate the negative and talk about the positive things. I’m here. We’ve got Sherri Shepherd over on The Newlywed Game; Wayne Brady on Let’s Make a Deal, and I’m on Family Feud. There is some headway being made. We’ve still got a little bit of a fight but you’ve got Kerry Washington over there on Scandal… there’s some interesting things happening on television. I think it’s going to be fine. We’ve just got to keep up a good fight.”
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