Black Entertainment Television LLC,

doing business as A trade name, trading name, or business name, is a pseudonym used by companies that do not operate under their registered company name. The term for this type of alternative name is a "fictitious" business name. Registering the fictitious name w ...

BET Networks, is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...

. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate

Paramount Global Paramount Global (doing business as Paramount) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned and operated by National Amusements (79.4%) and headquartered at One Astor Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York. I ...

under its

CBS Entertainment Group The following is a list of major assets that are owned by Paramount Global. Paramount Pictures Corporation (Film) * Paramount Pictures ** Paramount Home Entertainment ** Paramount Television Studios ** Paramount Pictures International ** Param ...

unit.

History

Background

In 1980, Robert L. Johnson, who left his position as a cable lobbyist; established his own cable network called Black Entertainment Television; and it was originally a block on the Madison Square Garden Sports Network (later renamed to

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

), until it became a separate channel in 1983. In 1991, the network became the first black–controlled TV company to be listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. Starting in the late 1990s, the network expanded with the launch of

digital cable Digital cable is the distribution of cable television using digital data and video compression. The technology was first developed by General Instrument. By 2000, most cable companies offered digital features, eventually replacing their previou ...

networks: BET on Jazz (later known as BET Jazz. BET J, Centric, and BET Her), created originally to showcase jazz music–related programming, especially that of black jazz musicians; in 1998, it entered into a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

with Starz(then–owned by John Malone's Liberty Media) to launch a multiplex service of the

premium channel Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, b ...

featuring African American–oriented movies called BET Movies: Starz! 3 (later renamed Black Starz after BET dropped out of the venture following its purchase by Viacom, then–owner of Starz rival

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

, and now known as Starz InBlack).

Creation

In 2000, Viacom announced plans to purchase BET Holdings Inc. for more than $2.3 billion. The deal closed in 2001, with BET Holdings' networks becoming part of MTV Networks; but was eventually placed under BET Networks. In 2005, Robert Johnson retired as CEO, and was replaced with Debra L. Lee. Around the same time, Viacom was looking into splitting into two entities following multiple issues surrounding the company; which was eventually become upheld in January 2006, with the new Viacom being created as the new parent of MTV Networks, BET Networks,

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...

, and Famous Music (later sold to

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainment ...

in 2007); and

CBS Corporation The second incarnation of CBS Corporation (the first being a short-lived rename of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation) was an American multinational media conglomerate with interests primarily in commercial broadcasting, publishing, and t ...

(the legal successor to the original Viacom), gaining

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

, Paramount Television,

UPN The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

, and

Paramount Parks Paramount Parks was the operator of Paramount's Kings Island, Paramount's Kings Dominion, Paramount's Great America, Paramount's Carowinds, and Paramount Canada's Wonderland, which annually attracted about 13 million patrons. National Amuseme ...

(later sold to

Cedar Fair Cedar Fair, L.P., formally Cedar Fair Entertainment Company, is a publicly traded master limited partnership headquartered at its Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The company owns and operates eleven amusement parks, nine included- ...

in 2007). By 2007, the network had launched two more music–oriented networks, BET Hip–Hop and BET Gospel. BET also launched a batch of original programming by this time, including reality shows '' Baldwin Hills'' and ''

Hell Date ''Hell Date'' was a prank, dating show on Black Entertainment Television (BET). The show was created by Peter M. Cohen and produced by Peter M. Cohen Productions. The show presented itself as a typical dating show, such as ''Blind Date'', however ...

'', competition show '' Sunday Best'', and town hall–style discussion show ''Hip Hop vs. America''. BET's president of entertainment

Reginald Hudlin Reginald Alan Hudlin (born December 15, 1961) is an American film screenwriter, director, producer, and comic-book writer. Along with his older brother Warrington Hudlin, he is known as one of the Hudlin Brothers. From 2005 to 2008, Hudlin was P ...

resigned from the network on September 11, 2008. He was then replaced by Stephen Hill, who is also executive vice president of music programming and talent. BET announced in March 2010 that Ed Gordon would return to the network to host "a variety of news programs and specials". In 2015, it gained editorial control of VH1 Soul & MTV Jams respectively, renaming it under the BET brand, while downplaying modern hip-hop music on BET Hip-Hop due to the control of MTV Jams, effectively becoming an archival Hip-Hop music channel. In March 2017, president of programming Stephen Hill and executive vice president of original programming Zola Mashariki both stepped down. Connie Orlando, senior vice president of Specials, Music Programming, and News was named the interim president of programming. In July 2017, Viacom signed new film and television development deals with

Tyler Perry Tyler Perry (born Emmitt Perry Jr., September 13, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and playwright. He is the creator and performer of the Madea character, a tough elderly woman. Perry's films vary in style from orthodox filmmak ...

following the expiration of his existing pact with

Discovery, Inc. Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate (company), conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual television, factual and lifestyle television bra ...

in 2019. As part of this deal, Perry would produce ''

The Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since ...

'' and '' Sistas'' for BET and co–own the network's newly launched streaming service,

BET+ A bet is a gambling wager. Bet or BET may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Bet Lynch, a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' * Elizabeth "Bet" Yeager, protagonist of '' Rimrunners'', a science fiction ...

Cable channels owned by BET Networks

Year in parentheses denotes when channel was created. *

(1980) *

BET Her BET Her (formerly Centric) is an American basic cable television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. The network is a spin-off of BET with a focus on general entertainment targeting African-American women. The channel originally launched ...

(1996) *

BET Gospel Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

(2002) *

BET Hip-Hop Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

(2002) *

BET Jams BET Jams is an American pay television network controlled by BET Networks and owned by Paramount Media Networks. The channel features hip-hop and urban contemporary music videos. The network, formerly known as MTV Jams, was rebranded under the ...

(2002) - formerly MTV Jams *

BET Soul BET Soul is an American pay television network that is controlled by the BET Networks division of Paramount Global, which owns the network. The channel showcases R&B, funk, soul, neo soul, hip hop, jazz and Motown music from various decades. T ...

(1998) - formerly known as VH1 Soul * VH1 (1985)

Notes

References

External links

* {{Paramount Global American companies established in 1983 Broadcasting companies of the United States Cable network groups in the United States Companies based in New York City Mass media companies established in 1983 Paramount Media Networks Paramount International Networks 2001 mergers and acquisitions