BET

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"BET" redirects here. For other uses, see BET (disambiguation).
BET
CountryUnited States United States
HeadquartersUnited States Washington, D.C.
Ownership
OwnerMTV Networks (Viacom)

Nigger Entertainment Television:::"Sont Fucking Correct me Wikpedia Guys ( You HEARD ME ! )is an American cable network based in Washington, D.C. targeted toward African-American and urban audiences in the United States. The network is commonly referred to as BET and most of its programming comprises hip-hop and R&B music videos as well as religious programming and urban-oriented movies and series.

History

BET was founded by Robert L. Johnson, a former cable industry lobbyist, on January 25, 1980 after getting a $500,000 investment from then-TCI president John Malone. The network was initially a weekly, two-hour Friday night block airing on the USA Network from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. (EST). The programming was mostly older movies and music videos, creating an outlet for an untapped market in the then-young cable industry, African-Americans. In May of that year, BET invested $1 million for the production of Black collegiate sporting events and expanded an hour. In November 1980, BET added two half-hour shows, Black Showcase and The Bobby Jones Gospel Show (the latter is still on the air today). On June 26, 1983, BET premiered Video Soul, a music video series hosted by popular D.C. DJ Donnie Simpson, one of the first marquee series on the network.

On October 1, 1983, after finding additional funding courtesy of Home Box Office, BET launched a 24-hour schedule with a viewership of 7.6 million cable subscribers.

File:Bet network logo.gif
Prior BET logo


Throughout the decades, BET has grown in viewership and expanded beyond television. In October 1989, BET entered the publishing business by launching their first magazine Emerge, aimed toward African-American news consumers. A little under a year later, BET launched YSB (Young Sisters and Brothers), a lifestyle magazine aimed toward African-American teenagers followed by the purchase of Arabesque Books, a publisher of African-American-oriented romance novels, and Heart and Soul magazine. BET also launched spin-off networks in the 1990s, including BET on Jazz: The Jazz Channel (now named BET J), a pay-per-view network called BET Action, and, along with John Malone's Liberty Media, BET Starz!, which became Black Starz! after the Viacom takeover and renamed Starz InBlack in 2005. BET also offers two other music channels, BET Hip-Hop, and BET Gospel, both of which are offered on digital cable platforms across the nation.

BET also airs African-American interest specials and introduced public service campaigns. The Rap It Up campaign is dedicated to preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS in the African-American community. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, BET aired SOS: Saving Our Selves, a hurricane relief telethon concert on September 9, 2005, to raise funds for those affected by Katrina. More than $11 million was raised for Katrina victims.

Programming

Entertainment

On weekdays and Saturdays, BET focuses mainly on urban music programming with shows like 106 & Park and Rap City, while also airing sitcoms such as The Wayans Bros., The Jamie Foxx Show, Girlfriends, and The Parkers. Dramas including Soul Food and The Wire air Sunday nights and early mornings and the stand-up comedy program called Comic View airs throughout the week. BET has recently introduced reality programs like College Hill, collegiate sporting events, and various movies and specials. BET also created a short-lived animated comedy series called Hey Monie, after partnering up with The Oxygen Network.

On Sundays, BET carries gospel music and other religious programming for the greater part of the day such as The Bobby Jones Gospel Hour, Video Gospel, and Lift Every Voice. Religious programming also airs in the early morning hours every day from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST.

BET also airs the BET Awards Show each year. The show honors African American entertainers, athletes and actors. It is usually BET's highest rated show of the year.

News

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.

Criticism

Many prominent media critics, including Public Enemy rapper Chuck D,[1] journalist George Curry,[2] writer Keith Boykin,[3] comic book writer/artist/editor Christopher Priest,[4] filmmaker Spike Lee[5] and writer/cartoonist Aaron McGruder of The Boondocks, have protested BET's programming and actions. One of the most commonly-heard complaints is the fact that BET's programming is mostly geared towards ad sponsorship and does not focus on the public affairs of the black community.

The channel has been scrutinized by members of the black community who feel that the channel perpetuates harmful black stereotypes by primarily airing hip-hop videos that often have misogynistic, materialistic, and/or violent themes.[6] As a result, BET heavily censors suggestive content from the videos that it airs, often with entire verses removed from certain rap videos. Detractors also point out the irony they see in the network's choice to show strong religious (primarily Christian) programming. Not long ago, people began referring to the acronym BET as standing for "Black Exploitation Television."[7] Many critics consider BET to be a modern-day minstrel show.

BET has been criticized by some Christian evangelicals not primarily for music videos, but for its morning religious lineup. Each morning, BET broadcasts evangelical TV shows, and hosts include Robert Tilton, Don Stewart, and Peter Popoff, all of whom have been criticized and proven to be heading fraud ministries, and who have had spats with the law. In Popoff's case, his ministry's tax-exempt status was recently revoked in Canada; also, skeptic scientist James Randi notoriously debunked Popoff on The Tonight Show in 1988.[8]

Competitors

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.

International

BET UK

Main article: BET UK

BET International Inc was given a license to broadcast in the UK in May 2007 by Ofcom. BET UK will be the first international version of the channel and will launch sometime before the end of 2007[9] with headquarters in London. BET UK will be a mix of content from the main BET channel and locally produced shows.

BET Canada

BET became available in Canada in October of 1997 on most cable and satellite carriers. The Canadian feed is the same as the American feed with the only exception being movies. Most 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 are ones that were released during the summer of 2006.

Popular original BET shows

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.publicenemy.com/index.php?page=page3&item=31
  2. ^ http://georgecurry.com/columns/index1.shtml?id=1059847337
  3. ^ http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/000539.html
  4. ^ http://phonogram.us/viewpoint/ostracized.htm
  5. ^ http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C79963%7C1%7C,00.html
  6. ^ http://clydeonline.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/my-criticisms-of-a-conversation-with-bob-johnson/
  7. ^ http://www.emergingminds.org/magazine/content/item/1426
  8. ^ Randi, James (1989). The Faith Healers. Prometheus Books. ISBN 0-87975-535-0 page 142.
  9. ^ http://media.guardian.co.uk/broadcast/story/0,,2106667,00.html


See also

External links

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