To Whom It May Concern:

We, the undersigned, respectfully request that BET reconsider its decision to discontinue the production and/or airing of one of its newest gospel music programs, "106 & Gospel."

To be certain, "106 & Gospel" was flawed, as was likely reflected in lower-than-anticipated ratings and various comments made by the program's intended audience. Those flaws, however, were not conceptual in nature; rather, we believe that BET made several missteps in the EXECUTION of its concept for the program.

For example, since the program premiered, a core audience of gospel music fans expressed dissatisfaction that the show aired weekly on Sundays at 12 noon ET, a time during which many would-be viewers attend church. BET could have more diligently tested other time slots. Similarly, there were several segments within the program that were not well-received, but more time could have been spent to actually assess the audience's receptiveness to the respective segments before deciding to discontinue production of the entire program.

While we are unaware of every circumstance surrounding BET's business decision, discontinuing the program seems to be an extreme and unfortunate response to problems that may have feasible solutions. We understand that BET has undertaken the noble commitment of making gospel music, and its attendant programs, more widely appreciated on its network in 2009. It is particularly disappointing, then, that the network has chosen to abandon one of its most innovative gospel programs merely three months into the year.

Though the Nielsen ratings system is the industry standard for quantifying viewership, we hope that this petition will supplement BET's empirical data by demonstrating the existence of a strong viewer interest. While we appreciate the other gospel programs that will hopefully remain on BET, such as Bobby Jones Gospel and Sunday Best, there are no comparable gospel programs on BET for youth-young adult audiences. We believe that, if produced, marketed and delivered properly, "106 & Gospel" can be an incredibly viable program. We respectfully ask that BET reconsider the discontinuation of "106 & Gospel" on the network.