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BET |
| BET | |
|---|---|
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| Launched | January 25, 1980 |
| Owned by | BET Networks (Viacom) |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Country | United States |
| Headquarters | Washington, D.C. |
| Sister channel(s) | BET J, BET Gospel, & BET Hip-Hop |
| Website | www.bet.com |
| Availability | |
| Satellite | |
| Bell TV (Canada) | Channel 576 |
| DirecTV (USA) | Channel 329 Channel 1329 (VOD) |
| Dish Network (USA) | Channel 124 |
| Star Choice (Canada) | Channel 582 |
| Sky Digital (UK and Ireland) | Channel 191 Channel 198 (+1) |
| Freesat (UK) | Channel 140 Channel 141 (+1) |
| Cable | |
| Available on most cable systems | Check local listings |
Black Entertainment Television (commonly referred to by its acronym B.E.T.) is an American cable network based in Washington, D.C. and targeted towards young black and urban audiences in the United States. Robert L. Johnson founded the network in 1980. Most programming of the network comprises mainstream rap and R&B music videos and urban-oriented movies and series.
Its urban music programming includes 106 & Park, a show taped before a live audience counting down the top videos requested by viewers and inviting rap and R&B artists to promote their music. Rap City is BET's flagship program for rap music, and the network also regularly shows a block of R&B videos under the banner BET Now. For broadcasting videos that are accused of promoting immorality, BET has been the target of criticism and protests.12 Additionally, the channel shows syndicated television series, original programs, and some public affairs programs. On Sunday mornings, BET broadcasts a lineup of network-produced Christian programming; other, non-affiliated Christian programs are also shown during the early morning hours daily.
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On weekdays and Saturdays, BET focuses mainly on urban music programming with shows like 106 & Park and Rap City.The network also shows much syndicated programming, with sitcoms such as A Different World, Sanford, Diff'rent Strokes, Girlfriends, The Parkers, The Steve Harvey Show, and Thea, dramas such as Soul Food and The Wire. On weeknights, Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons, the network shows various films with black actors in lead roles under the series "BlackBuster Movies".3 Original programming of the network includes reality programs like Baldwin Hills, College Hill, and Hell Date. On Saturday mornings, BET shows re-runs of Just Jordan and Romeo!, children's shows from sister network Nickelodeon.
On Sundays, BET carries gospel music and other religious programming for the majority of the day such as The Bobby Jones Gospel Hour, Video Gospel, and Lift Every Voice. Other externally-produced religious programming also airs daily in the early morning hours and overnight Sundays.
BET Tonight was relaunched as a daily newscast, BET Nightly News with Jacque Reid, which began in 1999 as an extension of its news coverage. BET's news coverage became a part of the network in October 1986. After the nightly newscast was removed from the lineup in the summer of 2005, it returned in October 2005 delivering news updates on BET throughout the day and, in 2006, as a Sunday afternoon news hour. Upon the election of African-American Barack Obama as Democratic presidential candidate in the 2008 US presidential election, the network began showing Obama-related specials during 2008.4 Sheila C. Johnson, BET co-founder and wife of Robert Johnson, has endorsed Obama.5
BET airs a number of specials, including awards shows, fashion shows, and music specials. On September 9, 2005, SOS (Saving Our Selves): The BET Relief Telethon aired. Steve Harvey and Queen Latifah hosted the two and a half-hour long concert. An estimated $14 million was raised for the American Red Cross. This was done in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The BET Awards honors black entertainers, athletes and actors. It is usually BET's highest rated show of the year. The BET Hip Hop Awards is BET's largest music awards show, recognizing hip hop performers, producers and music video directors. Celebration of Gospel is an annual show featuring performances by the brightest stars in gospel and R&B, and television’s #1 religious/gospel telecast. Rip The Runway, a collision of hip hop and fashion is the network's annual fashion show. Spring Bling airs during spring break each year; a show dedicated to the goings on of spring breakers. In 2008, BET launched a new awards show, The BET Honors, which recognizes the lives and accomplishments of distinguished members of the Black American Community. BET was one of eight networks to air the 30-minute long Obama-Biden commercial on October 29, 2008 at 7:59PM EST.
The spin off channel BET J, originally called BET On Jazz (later BET Jazz), is available in 28 million homes on DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, and other digital cable providers. Programs include My Two Cents with Keith Boykin, Bryonn Bain, Crystal McCreary Anthony and Staceyann Chin, The Best Shorts hosted by Abiola Abrams, Living the Life of Marley about Ky-Mani Marley, My Model is Better Than Your Model with Eva Pigford and The Turn On hosted by Charlotte Burley.
BET's success, and the controversy over its content, has spawned a few smaller competitors aiming toward the African-American market. Although some like NUE TV (New Urban Entertainment Television) and Black Family Channel (formerly MBC) had little success, others like TV One have thrived and succeeded, mostly by eschewing BET's music-based programming for more family-oriented fare. However these networks are mostly watched by older African-Americans and BET continues to be mostly watched by the youth. A possible new arrival to Internet TV and broadcasting, The African American Channel, is making an attempt to enter the picture. Broadcasting and Cable magazine pointed out that The African American Channel could become a competitor of BET and others such as Black Family Channel and TV One in the not-so-distant future.6 In 2008, rapper Master P, who claims to have a "great relationship with BET", announced the launch of Better Black Television, which he intended to meet "consumer demand for family friendly hip-hop content".7
BET UK first transmitted on Videotron (now known as NTL) and several other cable networks from 1993 up until 1996. [1]
In May 2007 by Ofcom, BET International Inc was given a license to re-broadcast in the United Kingdom. BET UK is the first international version of the channel.
BET is available on Sky Digital Channel 191 after launching on Wednesday 27th February 2008 and on Freesat Channel 140 after launching on August 8. BET UK shows a mix of content from the main BET channel and locally produced shows.
BET became available in Canada in October 1997 on most cable and satellite carriers. The Canadian feed is the same as the American feed with the only exceptions being sitcoms. Most sitcoms and movies are replaced with music videos in a similar format to the daytime show BET Now with the exception being that there are limited commercial breaks and the BET bug doesn't appear in the bottom right corner. The majority of music videos being aired in place of movies and sitcoms are ones that were released during the summer of 2006.
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