BET is also unusual within Paramount’s portfolio in that some of its divisions have minority investors of their own. BET+, for example, counts Perry as an investor, while BET Studios
counts Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones as stakeholders. Those deals would complicate any effort to merge BET+ or BET Studios into Paramount+ or one of the company’s other divisions.
Such a deal, if it happens, would give Paramount cash as it continues to build out its main streaming offering, Paramount+, and as it reviews its holdings and figures out how things piece together in its strategy moving forward.
In January, the company
announced plans to merge its Paramount+ and Showtime businesses.
For Perry, a deal would not only give him and his company a pair of widely distributed cable channels but also ownership of a streaming service that could grow into a business of its own.
Founded in 1980 by former cable lobbyist Robert Johnson and his wife Sheila Johnson, the BET channel was the first cable network to specifically cater to African American audiences. Paramount (then known as Viacom) acquired BET in 2000 for $2.3 billion.
A number of high-profile advertisers, including General Motors and Coca-Cola, have committed to significantly increase their ad spend on minority-owned media companies. While BET targets a minority audience, its Paramount ownership would not fit that bill.
A Tyler Perry-owned BET, however, would.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
