15 Facts About BET

1.

In some markets, the network would not arrive at all until as late as the early 2010s and ViacomCBS considered it compulsory in retransmission consent negotiations to carry the BET Networks with ViacomCBS networks, due to some providers claiming that there was an overall lack of demand for the channel, or there was a low to non-existent African-American population within their service area.

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2.

BET launched a news program, BET News, in 1988, with Ed Gordon as its anchor.

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3.

In 1996, the talk show BET Tonight started with Tavis Smiley as host; in 2001, Ed Gordon replaced Smiley as host of the program.

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4.

BET launched a series of original programming by this time, including reality shows Baldwin Hills and Hell Date, competition show Sunday Best, and town hall-style discussion show Hip Hop vs America.

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5.

BET was then replaced by Stephen Hill, who is executive vice president of music programming and talent.

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6.

BET announced in March 2010 that Ed Gordon would return to the network to host "a variety of news programs and specials".

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7.

BET carries and produces several Award telecasts, including the network's own BET Awards, which were established in 2001 to celebrate African-Americans and diverse minorities in music, acting, sports and other parts of entertainment over the past year.

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8.

The BET Awards is the network's flagship event, with the "BET Experience" festival held in the days leading up to the telecast.

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9.

BET's programming is distributed on DVD and through video-on-demand services under the name BET Home Entertainment.

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10.

In May 2019, a BET-branded channel was launched on Pluto TV, which was owned by ViacomCBS in March 2019.

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11.

BET Hip-Hop is a music video network owned by BET Networks which is exclusive to digital cable systems.

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12.

BET International is the first international version of the channel and is available in Europe, Africa and the Middle East through satellite providers.

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13.

BET+1 is available on Sky channel 198 and Freesat channel 141, and is free-to-air.

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14.

BET is additionally an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.

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15.

BET became available in Canada in October 1997 on most pay television providers.

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