History
BET on Jazz launched on the date of September 21, 1996 as a spin-off channel to sister station BET. In 2002, it was renamed BET Jazz. On March 1, 2006, the network was re-branded as BET J and the focus shifted from a pure jazz channel to a more general interest service. While jazz music still remained the stated primary focus, programming expanded to include a block of Caribbean programs as well as some R&B, neo soul, reggaetón, and alternative hip hop. To a lesser extent, BET J also focused on go-go, electronica, and alternative rock. Programs included My Two Cents with Keith Boykin, Bryonn Bain, Crystal McCarey 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.
On April 24, 2009, BET announced it would rebrand BET J as Centric, which would be programmed as a general-interest adult African-American network which would compete equally with TVOne and leave BET to exclusively target younger viewers. The rebranding was completed on September 28, 2009.
Read more about this topic: Centric
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“The one duty we owe to history is to rewrite it.”
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