Nat King Cole
Cole was the first black man to have his own television program. His program began on NBC Television in 1956. NBC agreed to support The Nat King Cole Show for a while. It hoped American companies would pay to sell their products on the program. However, major companies were not willing to advertise on a program that had a black performer. They believed that white people in the southern part of the United States would not buy their products. Many Americans watched the show, but NBC stopped production after a year.