 Logo since June 27, 2021 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | United States |
| Headquarters | New York City,New York[1] |
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080iHDTV (downscaled toletterboxed480i for theSDTV feed) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Global |
| Parent | BET Media Group (CBS Entertainment Group) |
| Sister channels | |
| History | |
| Launched | January 25, 1980 (1980-1-25) (USA Network timeshare) July 1, 1983; 41 years ago (1983-07-01) (all-time channel) |
| Founder | Robert L. Johnson Sheila Johnson |
| Links | |
| Website | www |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Affiliated Streaming Service(s) | BET+ |
| Internet Protocol television | Hulu + Live TV,fuboTV,Philo,Sling TV,YouTube TV,Vidgo |
Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an Americanbasic cablechannel targetingBlack American audiences. It is the flagship channel of theBET Media Group, a subsidiary ofParamount Global'sCBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched as aUSA Networkprogramming block on January 25, 1980, BET would eventually become a full-fledged channel on July 1, 1983.
As of November 2023[update], BET is available to approximately 67,000,000 pay television households in the United States-down from its 2011 peak of 92,000,000 households.[2]
After stepping down as a lobbyist for the cable industry,Freeport,Illinois nativeRobert L. Johnson decided to launch his owncable television network. Johnson acquired a loan for $15,000 (equivalent to $55,648 in 2023) and a $500,000 (equivalent to $1,854,921 in 2023) investment from media executiveJohn Malone to start the network.[3] The network, which was named Black Entertainment Television (BET), launched on January 25, 1980.[4]Cheryl D. Miller designed the logo that would represent the network, which featured a star to symbolize "Black Star Power".[5][6]
Initially, broadcasting for two hours a week as a block of programming on the Madison Square Garden Sports Network (which would change their name toUSA Network three months after BET launched),[7] the network's lineup was composed ofmusic videos and reruns of popularblack sitcoms.[3]
In 1983, BET became a full-fledged entity, independent of any other channel or programming block, though continuing to share channel space with other cable networks on local cable systems due to lack of channel room for their 24-hour schedule until the time ofdigital cable allowed for larger channel capacity. In some markets, the network would not arrive at all until as late as the early 2010s and Viacom considered it compulsory inretransmission consent negotiations to carry the BET-branded networks withViacom Media Networks, due to some providers claiming that there was an overall lack of demand for the channel, or excused their lack of interest in BET due to an alleged low to non-existent Black American population within their service area.
BET launched a news program,BET News, in 1986, with Paul Berry as its first anchor. Berry was also a local anchor at WJLA-TV in Washington, DC at that time. Ed Gordon became anchor in 1988. Gordon later hosted other programs and specials on BET, such asFor Black Men Only: The Aftermath, related to the1992 Los Angeles riots, and a recurring interview show,Conversations with Ed Gordon.[8] In 1996, the talk showBET Tonight started withTavis Smiley as host; in 2001, Ed Gordon replaced Smiley as host of the program.
In 1991, the network became the first black-controlled television company to be listed on theNew York Stock Exchange.[3] Starting the late 1990s, the network expanded with the launch ofdigital cable networks: what is now the general interest channelBET Her was initially launched as "BET on Jazz" (later known as "BET Jazz", "BET J", and "Centric"), created initially to showcase jazz music-related programming, especially that of black American jazz musicians. In 1997, BET entered into ajoint venture withStarz (then-owned by John Malone'sLiberty Media, but later acquired by Lionsgate years later) to launch a multiplex service of thepremium channel featuring black American-oriented films 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 rivalShowtime, and now known as "Starz InBlack").
In 2000, media conglomerateViacom (later to become part ofParamount Global) purchased BET for $2.3 billion.[9] In 2005, Johnson retired from the network, turning over his titles of president and chief executive officer to former BET vice presidentDebra L. Lee.
In 2002, the network had launched two more music-oriented networks: BET Hip-Hop andBET Gospel. BET also launched a series of original programming by this time, including reality showsBaldwin Hills andHell Date, competition showSunday Best, and town hall-style discussion showHip Hop vs. America.[10] BET's president of entertainmentReginald Hudlin 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.[11] BET announced in March 2010 that Ed Gordon would return to the network to host "a variety of news programs and specials".[12]
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.[13]
In July 2017, Viacom signed new film and television development deals with Academy Award winnerTyler Perry following the expiration of his existing pact withDiscovery Inc. in 2019. As part of this deal, Perry would produceThe Oval andSistas for BET and co-own the network's newly launched streaming service,BET+.[14]
A wide range of people have protested elements of BET's programming and actions, includingPublic Enemy rapperChuck D,[15] journalistGeorge Curry,[16] writerKeith Boykin,[17] comic book creatorChristopher Priest,[18] filmmakerSpike Lee,[19]Syracuse University professor of financeDr. Boyce Watkins,[20] former NFL playerBurgess Owens,[21] and cartoonistAaron McGruder (who, in addition to numerous critical references throughout his seriesThe Boondocks, made two particular episodes, "The Hunger Strike" and "The Uncle Ruckus Reality Show", criticizing the channel). As a result, BET heavily censors suggestive content from the videos that it airs, often with entire verses and scenes removed from certain rap videos.[22][23]
Many scholars within the black American community maintain that BET perpetuates and justifies racism by affecting the stereotypes held about black Americans, and also by affecting the psyche of its young viewers through its bombardment of negative images of black Americans.[24]
Following the death of civil rights leaderCoretta Scott King in 2006, BET broadcast its regularly scheduled music video programming, rather than covering King's funeral live, as was done byTV One andBlack Family Channel, and by cable news channels such asCNN,Fox News Channel, andMSNBC. The network's website streamed the funeral live, while it periodically broadcast taped, 60-second reports from the funeral by senior news correspondent Andre Showell. Michael Lewellen, BET's senior vice president for corporate communications, defended the decision: "We weighed a number of different options. In the end, we chose to offer a different kind of experience for BET viewers." Lewellen also explained that BET received around "two dozen" phone calls and "a handful" of emails criticizing BET for not showing the King funeral live.[25] On the evening of the funeral, February 7, 2006, BET broadcast the tribute specialCoretta Scott King: Married to the Mission, and repeated it the following Sunday, February 12.[26] Showell hosted the program featuring highlights of the funeral,Coretta Scott King: Celebrating Her Spirit, that broadcast that same day.[27] In its 2007 convention, theNational Association of Black Journalists gave BET its "Thumbs Down Award" for not broadcasting King's funeral live.[28]
The New York Times reported that the ReverendDelman L. Coates and his organization Enough is Enough led protests every weekend outside the residences of BET executives against what they claim are negativestereotypes of black people perpetuated by BET music videos.[22] Enough is Enough backed an April 2008 report titledThe Rap on Rap by theParents Television Council that criticized BET's rap programming, suggesting that the gratuitous sexual, violent and profane content was targeting children and teens.[29]
In a 2010 interview, BET co-founderSheila Johnson explained that she herself is "ashamed" of what the network has become. "I don't watch it. I suggest to my kids that they don't watch it," she said. "When we started BET, it was going to be theEbony magazine on television. We had public affairs programming. We had news... I had a show calledTeen Summit, we had a large variety of programming, but the problem is that then the video revolution started up... And then something started happening, and I didn't like it at all. And I remember during those days we would sit up and watch these videos and decide which ones were going on and which ones were not. We got a lot of backlash from recording artists...and we had to start showing them. I didn't like the way women were being portrayed in these videos."[30]
BET has launched several spin-off cable networks over the years, includingBET Her (formerly known as "BET on Jazz", then "BET J" and later "Centric"), BET Hip-Hop, and BET Gospel. Overtime, spin-offs from sibling channels would be realigned under the BET branding; such as BET Jams (formerly known as "MTV Jams"),BET Soul (formerly known as "VH1 Soul"), SHO×BET, a premiumShowtime multiplex network, andVH1 (an older-skewing spin-off of MTV that drifted into reality shows and, later, Black American-centric programming).
In May 2019, a BET-branded channel was launched onPluto TV (which was acquired by its parent company two months earlier).[31] In June 2019, the launch ofBET+ was announced, a premiumstreaming service targeting Black Americans. The service launched in the United States in Fall 2019 withFirst Wives Club (which was originally planned to launch onParamount Network before being shifted to BET) announced as one of the service's original series.[32]
 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Launched | July 1, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-07-01) |
BET Gospel is atelevision network in the United States that launched on July 1, 2002. The network provides gospel and religious-related programming, and much of its time ispaid for by religious organizations to carry their programming and services.
 | |
| Broadcast area | United States and Latin America |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 480i SDTV |
| History | |
| Launched | May 1, 2002; 22 years ago (2002-05-01) |
| Former names | MTV Jams(2002–2015) |
BET Jams is an American pay television network airinghip-hop andurban contemporarymusic videos on a thrice-daily automated wheel schedule of eight hours outside of temporary "roadblock" closures during Paramount Global's awards events, with all of its programming currently denoted in hour blocks asBET Jams – Music Videos withinelectronic program guide listings.
The channel launched on May 1, 2002, as MTV Jams, and carried that name until October 5, 2015, and was placed under BET's purview as MTV drifted away from music programming along with106 & Park. The network space itself launched on August 1, 1998, asMTVX, carrying modern rock videos, and was re-focused around hip-hop music on that date, to some controversy from MTVX's former viewers.
BET UK first transmitted on Videotron (now known as Virgin Media) and several other subscription providers from 1993 until 1996.[33]
In May 2007 byOfcom, BET International Inc. was given a license to rebroadcast in the United Kingdom.BET International is the first international version of the channel and is available in Europe, Africa and the Middle East through satellite providers. BET launched on February 27, 2008, on Sky channel 191 and began to be carried byFreesat channel 140 on August 8, 2008. BET+1 is also available on Sky channel 198 and Freesat channel 141, and is free-to-air.BET International shows with a mix of content from the main BET channel and locally produced shows. An exclusive, but temporary, HD version of the channel was made to show the 2009 BET Awards on Freesat EPG 142.
BET is additionally an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.[34]
BET launched an app called BET Play allowing international access to BET content in over 100 countries in June 2016.[35]
The channel was shut down on April 8, 2021, with its content moved toMy5 andPluto TV.
BET became available through most Canadian pay television providers on October 17, 1997, though with select programming substituted andblacked out due to domestic broadcast groups owning the rights the shows being broadcast and carrying them on another of their networks.
In 2022, Paramount began to phase out BET in Canada due to expiring rights, a number of major providers began dropping the channel, beginning withRogers Communications on April 1, 2022, followed by Hay Communications on September 30, 2022, andShaw Cable andShaw Direct on August 31, 2023.[36] The Canadian feed was discontinued on all other providers nationwide on January 1, 2025.[37]
Introduced on November 17, 2015. BET France launched across a linear television channel alongside non-linear services including Bouygues Telecom, Canalsat, Numericable/SFR, and Free.[38]
BET channel turndown
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