BET no longer up for sale – AP source

LOS ANGELES (AP):

BET won’t be sold after all; Paramount Global decided against selling the majority stake of the network.

Paramount notified bidders late Wednesday night about its decision to conclude the BET Media Group sale process, said a person familiar with the decision who was not authorised to speak publicly. The person said the company determined maintaining a heavy stake in BET creates more value for Paramount than any of the proposals after consulting with financial advisers.

Some popular suitors included actor-director Tyler Perry, music mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs and businessman Byron Allen. At one point, some considered Perry as a leading contender based on the two successful series, The Oval and Sistas, airing on the network.

BET was originally started by Robert and then-wife Sheila Johnson in 1980. Robert Johnson created BET from the basement of his Washington, D.C., home after securing a $500,000 loan from longtime cable executive John Malone and built the brand into the leading TV network for black Americans.

Johnson expanded the network by creating smaller digital networks geared to fans of jazz, gospel and hip-hop along with being a publishing house and event production firm. In the early 1990s, the network became the first black-controlled television company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

BET has seen a decline in subscribers and revenue over the past decade. Subscribers fell to an estimated 66.3 million in 2022 from 89.5 million in 2014, while annual profits have fallen from an estimated peak of $319 million in 2013 to $188 million in 2022 according to S&P Global.

BET beefed up its content after the Johnsons sold it to Viacom in 2000 for $3 billion, which made them the nation’s first black billionaires. He remained the CEO until 2006.

The weekday show, 106 & Park, became a flagship programme for BET creating opportunities for unknown personalities into household names. Started in 2000, it lasted more than a decade and thrived with a video countdown, interviews and performances. A year later, the network started the BET Awards to celebrate the contributions that people of colour have made through entertainment and sports realm.