BET Soul is an American

pay television Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to Subscription business model, subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichan ...

network Network, networking and networked may refer to: Science and technology * Network theory, the study of graphs as a representation of relations between discrete objects * Network science, an academic field that studies complex networks Mathematics ...

that is controlled by the

BET Networks Black Entertainment Television LLC, doing business as BET Networks, is an American entertainment company that oversees the company's premium cable television channels, including its flagship service BET. It is a subsidiary of media conglomerate Pa ...

division of

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 ...

, which owns the network. The channel showcases R&B,

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul) is a genre of popular music. As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contempo ...

, hip hop,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

and

Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''moto ...

music from various decades. The channel uses an automated "wheel" schedule that was introduced during the early years of

MTV2 MTV2 (formerly M2) is an American pay television Cable television, channel owned by the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. The channel launched initially as an all-music video service, once the original MTV had started to sh ...

and is also used by sister channel

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 ...

. The loop repeats three times a day, starting at 6 a.m. Eastern Time, and then resetting at 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. Originating as VH1 Soul, a spinoff of VH1, the channel moved under the editorial control of

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 ...

on December 28, 2015 as part of Viacom's (now Paramount's) ongoing restructuring of their pay-TV operations.

History

Early years (1998-2006)

The channel, which was originally a commercial-free service, debuted on August 1, 1998 with VH1 Smooth as part of the "MTV Digital Suite" 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 ...

channels, which was sold only to cable providers to give them an advantage over satellite services. The first video shown on the channel was "

Boogie Wonderland "Boogie Wonderland" is a song by American band Earth, Wind & Fire with The Emotions, released in April 1979 on Columbia Records as the first single from their ninth album, ''I Am'' (1979). The song peaked at number 14 on the US ''Billboard'' danc ...

" by

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

. In its early years, VH1 Soul's main focus was on R&B and soul videos of the late 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, along with live performance clips from even earlier years.

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. Th ...

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

, Usher, Tony Toni Tone,

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gay Jr., who also spelled his surname as Gaye (April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984), was an American singer and songwriter. He helped to shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player and later as a solo ar ...

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

were some of the channel's main staples. By 2003, the channel had stopped showing most of the pre-1990s videos, since these were often played on VH1 Classic's ''Soul Power'' program. The channel then gradually began to focus more on underground, alternative, and ''old skool'' hip-hop videos, while continuing to feature new R&B musicians.

Change of format (2006-2015)

On February 1, 2006, VH1 Soul revamped its programming and introduced different one-hour themed video blocks to its schedule, as opposed to the prior random rotation of videos. However, the basic 'wheel schedule' structure remained, and does so to this day. In Spring 2007, VH1 Soul, alongside its sister networks

MTV 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 B ...

and

MTV Hits MTV Hits is a music video-only spin-off cable/satellite television channel of MTV in several international markets, originally based on the pop music format of a defunct programming block on the American MTV itself. It may refer to the following ch ...

, were briefly dropped from

Time Warner Cable Time Warner Cable, Inc. (TWC) was an American cable television company. Before it was acquired by Charter Communications on May 18, 2016, it was ranked the second largest cable company in the United States by revenue behind only Comcast, operat ...

's Southern California systems that were formerly operated by Adelphia and

Comcast Comcast Corporation (formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corpora ...

. However, all three channels returned to TWC within a few months, under a new, specialized service tier. To date, however, the three networks remain conspicuously absent from many of Time Warner Cable and

Bright House Networks Bright House Networks, LLC also simply known as Bright House, was an American telecom company. Prior to its purchase by Charter Communications, it was the tenth-largest multichannel video service provider and the 6th largest cable internet prov ...

' systems, most notably in New York City. Even as the 'Digital Suite' concept was discontinued, the network has neither offered to

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. It ...

nor

Dish Network DISH Network Corporation (DISH, an acronym for DIgital Sky Highway) is an American television provider and the owner of the direct-broadcast satellite provider Dish, commonly known as Dish Network, and the over-the-top IPTV service, Sling TV. A ...

until 2016. The last edition of the

Vibe Awards ''Vibe'' is an American music and entertainment magazine founded by producers David Salzman and Quincy Jones. The publication predominantly features R&B and hip hop music artists, actors and other entertainers. After shutting down production in ...

aired on the channel in November 2007, after a one-year hiatus due to the merger of

The WB The WB Television Network (for Warner Bros., or the "Frog Network", for its former mascot, Michigan J. Frog) was an American television network launched on broadcast television on January 11, 1995, as a joint venture between the Warner Bros. ...

and

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 ...

into

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

. By this time, as the channel's distribution increased, VH1 Soul began showing regular advertising. Commercials were removed in 2009, but were restored on January 1, 2011. For a short time from 2008 until 2009 the network aired non-music video programming in some timeslots, including VH1's ''

The Salt-n-Pepa Show ''The Salt-N-Pepa Show'', which premiered on October 14, 2007 on VH1, is a reality show documenting the events from the life of Salt-n-Pepa Salt-N-Pepa (also stylized as Salt 'N' Pepa or Salt 'N Pepa) is an American hip-hop group formed i ...

'', alongside the documentary '' Black to the Future'' as part of the network's February 2009

Black History Month Black History Month is an annual observance originating in the United States, where it is also known as African-American History Month. It has received official recognition from governments in the United States and Canada, and more recently ...

programming, along with out-of-format programming such as ''

Hip Hop Honors The Hip Hop Honors is an annual event that airs on VH1. The television special honors old school and golden age hip hop rappers and contributors for their long-term influence and importance in the history of hip hop culture. It features live pe ...

'', ''VH1 Rock Docs'', and other programming from its ''Celebreality'' strand of original programming. Viewer complaints that resulted from the programming substitutions soon overpowered VH1's management, alongside other complaints for sister network

VH1 Classic MTV Classic (formerly VH1 Smooth, VH1 Classic Rock, and VH1 Classic) is an American pay television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. It was originally launched in 1998 as VH1 Smooth, an adult contemporary and smooth jazz channel. It w ...

straying from its own mission. Soon, VH1 moved away from out-of-format programming on both channels, and by late 2009, VH1 Soul resumed a 24/7 video format.

BET era (2015-present)

On December 28, 2015, the channel was given over to BET Networks as part of the continuing reorganization of Viacom's (now Paramount's) assets due to ratings and financial issues in 2015, an issue that had already resulted in BET Networks taking editorial control of the former

two months before. The network was rebranded as BET Soul on that day. BET Soul would change its image again on November 27, 2021, introducing a new logo more in line with BET's current reimaging. This rebrand also saw the channel expand its blocks from one hour to two hours each, alongside the renaming of some blocks (such as "Soul School" to "Diggin' in the Crates") and the introduction of new blocks to the schedule (such as "Woke Wednesday"). Another alteration to the channel's programming was the return of non-music-video programming to the network's schedule, via the weekly "Cuffing SZN" block. However, as of spring 2022, however, the block seems to have been discontinued. Presently, a selection of R&B hits from the past 10 years, as well as several 1980s and early 1990s hip-hop videos, can be seen on BET Soul. Several of the more R&B-influenced modern-day rappers and their newest videos can also be regularly seen in heavy rotation on the channel; for example:

The Roots The Roots are an American hip hop band formed in 1987 by Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy F ...

De La Soul De La Soul () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1988 in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York. They are best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

, and

Talib Kweli Talib Kweli Greene (; born October 3, 1975) is an American rapper. He earned recognition early on through his collaboration with fellow Brooklyn rapper Mos Def in 1997, when they formed the group Black Star. Kweli's musical career continued with ...

. However, the channel still occasionally airs older 1980s or early 1990s R&B/soul hits, such as Prince's "Kiss",

Mariah Carey Mariah Carey (; born March 27, 1969) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. Referred to as the " Songbird Supreme", she is noted for her five-octave vocal range, melismatic singing style and signature use of the whi ...

's "Vision Of Love", Stevie Wonder's "Superstition", or

Chaka Khan Yvette Marie Stevens (born March 23, 1953), better known by her stage name Chaka Khan (), is an American singer. Her career has spanned more than five decades, beginning in the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the funk band Rufus. Known as the " Qu ...

's "I Feel For You".

Programming

Current

* In Rotation (formerly The Soul Player) – A random rotation of videos. The format is similar to how the channel was operated before February 1, 2006. * Chronicled (formerly The Soul Story) – A block of videos by a single artist or group that are mostly shown in chronological order. * Soul Squared – A block of old and current videos by various artists which airs two videos from the same artist back-to-back, in a similar manner to VH1 Classic's ''Tuesday Twoplay'' program. * Diggin' In The Crates (formerly Soul School) – This show features old school hip-hop and R&B music videos. * WORLDwide (formerly Island Soul) – Like ''One Planet, One Soul'', This show features music videos by Caribbean and international artists with diverse genres such as

Afrobeat Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersectin ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

and

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

. * The Calming (formerly "Soulphrodisiac") – A

Quiet Storm Quiet storm is a radio format and genre of R&B, performed in a smooth, romantic, jazz-influenced style. It was named after the title song on Smokey Robinson's 1975 album ''A Quiet Storm''. The radio format was pioneered in 1976 by Melvin Lin ...

formatted show. The show primarily plays love songs and slow jams, and is similar to ''BET After Dark'' or ''BET's Midnight Love''. * Woke Wednesday - A weekly block showcasing politically-charged or "woke" music videos every Wednesday. * Hit List: Loading... - A countdown block featuring the Top 20 Soul and R&B videos of the week. * Ascending Soul - A block which features experimental soul videos.

Former

* Speak Your Soul – A viewer-requested video block. Viewers made requests on the channel's official website. (Discontinued with rebrand to BET Soul) * Live Soul – This show featured live performance clips by soul artists. (Discontinued) * Top 10 Best in Soul – This show featured videos by the most popular artists in R&B and hip-hop music. The format is similar to MTV's Big 10. * Sub Soul – This show featured videos by Underground Soul artists. * Cuffing SZN - A short-lived weekly block of BET original programming such as

American Soul ''American Soul'' is an American musical drama television series, created by Jonathan Prince and Devon Greggory, that premiered on February 5, 2019, on BET. The series tells the story of Don Cornelius and the creation of his legendary music and ...

and The Encore. Aired every Saturday night at 7:00pm EST.

References

External links

Official site
{{Paramount Global African-American television Music video networks in the United States BET Networks Television channels and stations established in 1998 English-language television stations in the United States African-American television networks