History
After stepping down as a lobbyist for the cable industry, Freeport, Illinois, native Robert L. Johnson decided to launch his own cable television network. Johnson would soon acquire a loan for $15,000, and earned a $500,000 investment from John Malone to start the network. BET began broadcasting on January 25, 1980. Initially broadcasting for two hours a week as a block of programming on the Nickelodeon (it wouldn't be until 1983 that BET became a full fledged channel), the network lineup consisted of music videos and reruns of popular black sitcoms.
BET launched a news program, BET News, in 1988, with Ed Gordon as the anchor. Gordon would later host other programs and specials on BET, such as Black Men Speak Out: The Aftermath, related to the 1992 Los Angeles riots and a recurring interview show Conversations with Ed Gordon. In 1996, the talk show BET Tonight debuted with Tavis Smiley as host; in 2001, Ed Gordon replaced Tavis Smiley. In 2002, as part of a reorganization focusing on entertainment productions,
In 1991, the network became the first black-controlled company on the New York Stock Exchange. In 2003, the network was no longer a black owned business when it was bought by media conglomerate Viacom for $3 billion. In 2005, Johnson retired from the network, turning over his titles as President and Chief Executive Officer to Debra L. Lee, a former Vice President.
In 2007, the network expanded into other BET-related digital cable networks: Centric, BET Hip-Hop, and BET Gospel. Centric (formerly BET on Jazz, BET Jazz and BET J) is a spin-off cable television channel of BET (Black Entertainment Television), created originally to showcase jazz music-related programming, especially that of black jazz musicians. It is now a general interest channel geared towards African-American adults. Centric is available in 28 million homes on DirecTV, Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse, Time Warner Cable and many other digital cable providers as part of the MTV Digital Suite. The channel is additionally an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative. BET also launched a batch of original programming, including reality shows Baldwin Hills and Hell Date, competition show Sunday Best, and town hall-style discussion show Hip Hop vs. America.
Read more about this topic: Black Entertainment Television
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