(FORTUNE Magazine) – It's been another embarrassing summer for broadcast television--and this time it's not because of slipping ratings. When the six networks unveiled their 38 new shows in May, onlookers were appalled at the paucity of African-American characters. Producers, as usual, managed to whitewash whole swaths of America--high schools, New York City, and even the White House. When blacks did appear, they tended to be cast in clownish roles on last-place UPN.

But the problem isn't as widespread as it appears. Minority actors are appearing on TV in droves--but you'll find them on the pay cable networks. In fact, HBO and Showtime seem to be in a battle to produce the most black-oriented programming. Much of it is good too.

HBO has been at this a while--in 1987 it made Mandela, starring Alfre Woodard and Danny Glover. Since then it has developed a lucrative niche producing slickly marketed features including Miss Evers' Boys, about the Tuskegee experiments, and Don King, chronicling the life of the legendary boxing promoter. Its most recent effort, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, was as heavily pushed as many of this summer's studio-made feature films. With these projects, HBO (which, like FORTUNE, is owned by Time Warner) has gotten a reputation as a nurturing home for minority talent. Top stars like Spike Lee, Forest Whitaker, and Laurence Fishburne have done multiple projects for the network. "The movies HBO makes are so socially aware," says Halle Berry, who starred in Dandridge, a project she had tried for six years to make. "I've told everybody--both black and white--how wonderful it is to work with HBO and that this is the first place they should go with any ideas or projects."

It's a formula that's paid off, judging by HBO's subscriber base--about 22% black, compared with 12% of the population--and its ratings. A quarter of the homes with HBO tuned in this summer for a special featuring comedian Chris Rock. Any network would kill for that kind of market penetration.

Now Showtime seems to be following suit. Though it has also done minority-themed movies for some time, it reaches fewer viewers than HBO. So it has turned up the marketing wattage. It has generated a lot of buzz--though not all positive--for Strange Justice, a retelling of Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court confirmation hearings. Lincs, a show produced by veteran actor Tim Reid that follows a group of African-American friends in Washington, D.C., has been more widely praised.

The networks say their strategy is just smart programming--producing shows for a forgotten audience. "We're trying to get stories that others aren't telling and that will help us stand out," says Jeff Bewkes, CEO of HBO. Matthew Blank, CEO of Showtime, adds, "We're serving audiences that others won't serve."

It's a bit more complicated than that. Unlike the advertiser-supported broadcast networks, which must bow to Madison Avenue whims, the pay cablers depend on subscriptions. They've found that blacks will be loyal--buying, watching, and renewing their subscriptions--in order to see high-quality programming starring Laurence Fishburne or Halle Berry. Especially when the alternative is, say, Shasta McNasty, on UPN.

--Henry Goldblatt