Carlos King reflects on his rise from showrunner to a media mogul leading much of OWN’s most-watched original programming,
After years of shaping hit reality shows, Carlos King has built his own media empire that’s redefining Black excellence and inspiring Black creatives with his blueprint for ownership and authenticity.
As founder and CEO of Kingdom Reign Entertainment, King helms the powerhouse reality hits like the Love & Marriage franchise and Belle Collective—standout series on OWN that have contributed to as much as 70% of the network’s original programming. King’s reach on OWN is an unprecedented feat in a space with few Black-owned players.
By driving major revenue for a Black-owned network while retaining both creative control and ownership of his intellectual property, King exemplifies the economic power of Black-owned media. But to King, a proud Detroit native, his journey from employee to employer reflects his larger mission to serve as an “agent of change” in an industry where true ownership remains rare.
“While I was a showrunner for The Real Housewives of Atlanta, I was really at a point in my career where I wanted to start being at the head of the table making decisions and being an agent of change,” King tells BLACK ENTERPRISE. “So showrunning that show for I believe it was three years, two years actually at that point, I just wanted to really start a Black-owned production company.”
“I wanted to be the first one doing it so that the cast had somebody who was the owner of the company who looked just like them.”
King’s leap into ownership proved transformative when he launched Kingdom Reign Entertainment and debuted Love & Marriage: Huntsville on OWN in 2019. What began as a fresh take on reality storytelling quickly became a breakout success, driving strong ratings and audience engagement for the network.
The show’s popularity not only cemented King’s reputation as one of the most powerful voices in unscripted television but marked the beginning of a franchise that would expand and dominate OWN’s primetime slate. For the network, it was a game-changer, delivering consistent viewership, sparking cultural conversations, and positioning OWN as a hub for dynamic, Black-centered reality programming.
King didn’t enter the OWN partnership aiming to dominate primetime; his focus was simply on producing a great show. He credits his success to concentrating on doing one thing exceptionally well, a principle that has become a cornerstone of his achievements on the network.
“I didn’t go in wanting to have multiple shows on the air. I just wanted to make sure that the first show that I had created, which is Love and Marriage Huntsville, that would be successful,” King shared.
“I put all of my eggs in that basket in terms of creativity, passion, and love into it. And from there, with this show being so successful, it spawned off two other cities, D.C. and Detroit. And it also created Belle Collective. So, for me, I didn’t step out to be this dominant player. I’m thrilled that the success has benefited me to have multiple shows on the air. But the perfect thing is, I just wanted to make sure that the first show I had was a success.
“And for me, I feel like if people can just focus on one thing and do a great job at that, everything else will follow.”
Source: Photo courtesy of Carlos King
With a track record producing hit seasons of The Real Housewives and Love and Hip-Hop franchises, along with standalone series like BET Presents: The Encore, Hollywood Divas, Gucci Mane and Keyshia Ka’oir: The Mane Event, and Selling It: In The ATL, among many others, King knows exactly what drives audience engagement in reality television.
That experience proved invaluable when he cast Love & Marriage: Huntsville, selecting real-life friends and married couples working in real estate in Huntsville, Alabama, who were also navigating genuine personal drama. The show quickly became OWN’s No. 1 series, breaking ratings records thanks to its compelling focus on marital dynamics and relationship conflicts.
King credits the cast’s authenticity and relatability as the key factors that not only attracted viewers but kept them coming back, paving the way for the franchise’s expansion and the growth of his content empire on the network.
“When it comes to Love and Marriage Huntsville, I strongly believe the audience really felt like they had somebody they could relate to,” King explains. “You have three different couples, who were going through three different milestones in their lives and their relationship. So the audience definitely felt the need to, you know, relate to the whole.”
From Melody and Martell Holt’s infidelity struggles playing out on screen, to Kimmie and Maurice Scott’s marriage and blended family journey, all while LaTisha and Marsau Scott adjusted to a housewife entering the workforce, viewers found a range of authentic, relatable experiences in the cast, King explains.
“So I think the relatability is what really made the audience, you know, really, really relate to Huntsville, which was the driving factor into the success that the other shows I’ve done have had,” he added.
Before expanding into new franchises, King honed in on the formula that made Love & Marriage: Huntsville a breakout hit, a strategy he credits to lessons learned while working on powerhouse reality series like The Real Housewives and Love & Hip Hop.
“It was all about making sure that the audience felt that, ‘OK, we love the brand, Love and MarriageHuntsville is a huge success.’ Because when I worked on Love and Hip Hop or when I worked on The Real Housewives, it was always about making sure that the first engine, which we call the mothership, was a success and that the rest will come as long as you sort of follow the formula,” King explained.
“So I wanted to follow that formula with building out the scene in Detroit, which was find couples who are relatable, who have a story to tell, so that the audience felt like, ‘OK, on Huntsville, we have these amazing cast members, but we’re also looking forward to getting to know other couples where their storylines are somewhat similar but different in their approach, but they can find relatability there too.”
The leap from showrunner to media mogul wasn’t an easy one, especially as King found himself stepping into rooms where he once took direction, now as the one giving it. That transition from employee to employer proved to be one of his biggest challenges.
“The biggest thing was making sure that the network respected me as a CEO, because for years, they’ve known me as a producer, as a showrunner,” King says. “So then to be able to be the CEO of a production company, I wanted to make sure that they saw me as that and saw somebody who was able from soup to nuts to handle the logistics of producing a show, but also managed the creative side of it as well.
“So, that’s honestly been my story that I hope others can relate to when it comes to transitioning from one phase to the next and making sure that those people who may have saw you climb the ladder, that they see you as the person you’ve grown to be versus the person that you were,” he adds.
Source: Photo courtesy of Carlos King
For King, the balance between creativity and ownership comes down to building the right team, so he can stay focused on telling stories.
“It’s all about hiring people to do what they love. So with me, creativity is my strongest suit. That’s what I’m known for,” King says. “My shows, you have the Carlos King DNA in them. When it comes to making sure that the financial part of the company is doing well, I have a great team of people who are put in place to really make sure that that’s happening. And that’s happening in a way where the networks and the buyers and the cast who get paid, they can also be like, ‘OK, this is also being handled just as beautifully and wonderfully as the creative.’”
“So I would say for people, you gotta hire the right people to do the right job. And that’s exactly what I’ve done,” he adds.
In TV and film, keeping creative control isn’t easy, but King has managed to protect his vision and brand while making sure Black stories are told authentically. The way he brings real-life stories to the screen, King says, is something for the history books.
“For me, it’s always been my goal to tell Black stories because as a Black person growing up in this business, there wasn’t a lot of reality shows back in the day that featured Black people in different worlds,” he shares “So even when you think about the Love and Marriage franchise, it’s the first show of its kind where it’s about an ensemble group of couples. So it’s not about a group of women, and the husbands are the background players. This show, they have equal footing because for me, Black couples that I’ve been around, they both have a voice, and I wanted to make sure that that was shown at the forefront.”
King continues. “So, for me, it’s always about telling different Black stories that haven’t been told. So, doing a show about Black men, Black women, they have a voice, even when they get a divorce, we’re still following both. We’re following the divorced couple in their individual endeavors, because again, just because a couple’s divorced doesn’t mean that the man’s story is no longer interesting. If anything, you want to kind of see how they navigate through divorce. So I think that’s something that will go down in history as something we’ve done first and then very successfully.”
Reality TV is no stranger to drama, whether it’s physical altercations, lawsuits, or messy firings; it’s rare for a hit show to thrive without chaos spilling off-screen. Yet, under Kingdom Reign, King has built a slate of shows that keep audiences hooked without getting him or his cast canceled.
Through his hit podcast Reality with the King, King is able to dive deeper into the world of reality television with stars past and present to unpack untold stories, revisit unfinished drama, and give fans the behind-the-scenes tea they crave. For King, these conversations aren’t just entertainment; they give him valuable insight he can bring back to his own productions.
“The beauty of my podcast, Reality with the King, is I’m always able to have takeaways from my interviews, whether it’s being on a personal level or professional level,” he says. “I always look at situations and say, ‘Huh, maybe there’s opportunities to, you know, rearrange the way we do business with this person or that person or this show or that show.’ It’s been a joy and a privilege of being in that position as a way of me as the owner of the company, to say, ‘Wow, I feel horrible that they dealt with that.’ But I also need to take inventory and say, ‘What do I need to do to make sure that nobody on my show feels the same way.’”
King has experienced it all, going from taking orders to giving them, and in the process, he’s mastered every angle of the media game. That’s no small feat, especially for a Black man carving out space in such a competitive industry. Now, as the next generation of Black creatives works to secure deals that protect both their ownership and their vision, King has some advice of his own to share.
“It’s OK to invoke change in your goals. You have to look at where your particular industry is at from a creative level, financial level, business level, and find ways to be adaptive,” he said. “And it doesn’t mean that you’re not living up to your potential. It just means that the type of position that you thought you would have, you have to look overall and say, ‘Huh, where is this business at this particular time?’ And if you really do that and understand that the innovative ways will come out of it. And you need to be able to accept the change, accept the innovation. And it’s OK to sometimes say, ‘Let me regroup and figure out things in another way.’ Don’t feel indebted to one thing, one person, one business, one position, if your heart and soul is telling you to do something different.”
King continues. “So with me, I had a great time producing shows as a showrunner. And it wasn’t anything bad that happened. But it was my soul saying ‘There’s something more you need to do.’ And that’s what I took the leap of faith to do it.”
“So stop waiting for something bad to happen in order for you to seek change that your soul and spirit is telling you that your time is now to do something else.”
With more than 25 producer credits, a hit podcast expanding his influence in reality TV, and a production company that anchors OWN’s primetime lineup, King has fully realized his vision of being an agent of change in television. Still, he approaches his success with humility, seeing himself not just as a trailblazer but as someone opening doors for the next generation of Black media entrepreneurs.
“The biggest thing for me is making sure that they understand first and foremost that I’m just like them. Just because my career has, you know, been publicized, it doesn’t make me non-relatable,” King says, before reflecting on his journey from showrunner to CEO.
“If anything, it’s making sure that they see somebody who, whether you’re a producer, a cam operator, sound person, is really just seeing somebody who started off as an intern, then a PA, and then had every single position after that, was able to become an entrepreneur because it’s what works for me,” he says. “Entrepreneurship is not for everybody, and I think people should understand their strong suit to see if it’s best to be in the driver’s seat or is it best to be a passenger? And I think we have to really talk about the success that passengers have, and I don’t think that gets talked about enough.
“Everybody wants to be an entrepreneur, but a lot of people don’t have the stamina. They just don’t have the stomach to deal with it.
“It’s not easy at all. So look at what your strong suits are in any business that you’re doing, and then apply it that works best for you, your personality, and then hire the right people to do the other jobs that you’re gonna be good at.”
King recalls being belittled or berated by superiors, experiences that stayed with him and now drive him to treat everyone he encounters with respect and to lead by example. When it comes to his legacy, King wants to show underdogs and the principled players in the cutthroat entertainment world that staying true, maintaining integrity, and treating others with respect can ultimately lead to their moment in the spotlight.
“I would like for every person who has ever been the underdog to know that underdogs become top dogs and that nice guys and girls and they do finish first,” he says. “I do believe in that, yes, be strong, stand up for yourself and pick your battles. But, also, you don’t have to be this maniacal, mean human in order to be respected. An, yes, we may have grown up and see that be rewarded, but I have also seen those people fall from grace.”
King continues, “So stay true to who you are, stay humble, be kind, stand up for yourself, get your point across, but don’t ever feel the need to be mean. And I think that’s the biggest thing that I’ve learned. I’ve learned from people who were mean to me as an intern or a PA or as an executive. And I knew how that made me feel, and I vowed to never make anyone I come in contact with ever feel that way. So I think there’s also room for success in that. Like it’s OK to be a kind person, but please stand up for yourself. And standing up for yourself doesn’t mean a yelling match.”
