TV Producer Agrees to Save NAACP Show

The NAACP said Thursday that it has entered into an agreement with the producer and host of the long-running syndicated television program “Soul Train” to rescue the organization’s troubled Image Awards honors show and fund-raiser.

At a news conference here, leaders of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People said the show would be put on by Don Cornelius, who has a long history of producing programming directed at black audiences.

The announcement came as NAACP board members checked in for a three-day meeting. It was timed to blunt criticism of board Chairman William F. Gibson, who is seeking reelection amid allegations of wrongdoing.

*

Gibson’s critics have accused him of misusing NAACP money for personal gain, and some have said he should be ousted for his handling of the Image Awards, which were founded by the late singer/actor Sammy Davis Jr. to support the NAACP and black entertainers who had been overlooked by other Hollywood honors.

Cornelius said the 1995 awards program would be taped June 13 in Los Angeles and sold in syndication to television markets for national broadcast two weeks later.

“This agreement ensures that the 26-year history of the Image Awards will continue and the association now has a vehicle for annually recognizing those who help produce positive images of African Americans and people of color,” Cornelius said in a statement.

Officials declined to say how much the NAACP would pay Cornelius and his associate, Don Jackson, a Chicago television producer. Sources said the deal was worth about $500,000 and that the producers have a commitment from actor Denzel Washington to host the show.

*

The glitzy Hollywood show was one of the NAACP’s most successful annual events, until Gibson installed T.H. Poole, a Florida bail bondsman, as chairman of the program.

In four years under Poole’s control, the show lost more than $1.2 million, as well as an agreement with NBC to broadcast the show in prime time.

Poole is still in control of the awards program and participated in Thursday’s news conference.

He said this year was the first he had been “free to negotiate an unencumbered contract fee for the show. Unfortunately, the NBC license fee we inherited three years ago simply was not financially productive.”

He declined to discuss the financial losses that the show has suffered.