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Black Entertainment Television: Black Entertainment Television (BET) is the first and only television network in the United States primarily devoted to the attraction of African American viewers...
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BET, or Black Entertainment Television, is the first television
network geared towards African-Americans.
BET was founded by Robert L. Johnson. Johnson is also the chairman and
chief executive officer of BET. BET was started in January of 1980.
Today, BET is owned by Viacom.
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Launched with a paltry $15,000 investment
in 1980, the black-owned, basic-cable franchise had grown into a
diversified, $61 million media enterprise by late 1993.
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Despite this
rather phenomenal growth, however, BET's audience reach continues to
be overshadowed by larger cable industry players (e.g., Turner
Broadcasting Systems [TBS], Home Box Office [HBO], and ESPN).
Based
in majority-black Washington, D.C., BET has added about 2 million
subscriber homes per year since 1984, reaching more than 40 million
cable households in 2500 markets by 1995.
Moreover, the network has
more than tripled revenues since 1985; it reported profits for the
first time in 1986, when it finally hit A.C. Nielsen ratings charts
and attracted major advertisers.
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