BET Is Not the Epicenter of Black Culture It Once Was

The pending sale of BET Media Group, which includes the BET and VH1 networks, has brought Black buying power to the forefront. Tyler Perry, Byron Allen, Sean "Diddy" Combs, and the trio Kenya Barris, 50 Cent and Shaquille O’Neal have all expressed interest in purchasing the business. Allen recently told Bloomberg that things were moving quickly behind the scenes and that a new owner could be named "pretty soon."

He didn't indicate who it would be, but after BET was sold to Viacom (now known as Paramount Global) for $3 billion in 2001 and lost its Black-ownership status, the possibility of any one of the aforementioned names stepping into the leadership role is exciting and should be celebrated.

But Black ownership is only part of a long overdue strategic shift the network needs to undergo to be more culturally relevant to a multigenerational Black audience that gets entertainment and news from a variety of popular sources.

As a ’90s kid, BET for me was the epicenter of Black culture. That was the place that allowed me to see beautiful Black and brown faces like mine doing both ordinary and extraordinary things. With programs such as the youth-led talk show Teen Summit, it was one of my favorite networks because it showed me versions of my possibilities in a world that routinely excluded people who looked like me from opportunities.

That was when live TV had a significant foothold in our daily routine. A shift came as consumers increasingly moved away from cable in favor of other providers. Just like other cable networks, BET's viewership declined. Consumers now expect instantaneous access to convenient and customized information.

With this, the network — including its social media presence, streaming platform and website — now has stiff competition for the attention of Black viewers. Although its streaming service BET+ has more than 3 million subscribers, that pales in comparison to services like Fox Corp.'s Tubi, which has 64 million monthly users and has been recognized as a top place to see Black-created content — albeit with mixed reviews about the quality. BET's Instagram account has 2.6 million followers, or only about a tenth of the more than 28 million followers that one of the leading media platforms for young Black audiences, the Shade Room, has. MSNBC remains the No. 1 cable network for African Americans, which showcases a clear interest from this group in public affairs content.

On any given day, BET's TV schedule is mostly filled with a mixture of reruns of sitcoms (from the ’90s and more current ones) and old movies. The network has also been criticized for its portrayal of Black life over the years, but its steadfast importance is evident in the fact that it's attracting influential buyers. And the numbers tell me that BET has room to grow.

A new owner means an opportunity to reestablish the brand as the pinnacle of cultural connection by committing to revitalizing the media network as a central place to be (1) entertained, (2) get current information and (3) participate in real-time or asynchronous conversations around contemporary topics, news, politics and economics.

The easiest of these three tasks for the new owner will be to continue entertaining audiences, but it will take a new marketing strategy. Although BET+ has great content, it typically relies on traditional marketing that uses mini-trailers or clips of a show's actors for promotion. The network can lean into influencer marketing in a way that draws audiences to its app. Influencer marketing has become one of the fastest-growing tools for companies today, with billions of dollars spent annually on this type of advertising. Paying (fairly) Black influencers with a growing number of followers to review upcoming projects is an effective and modern way to move more viewers to the app and its content. The proverbial "someone said I should watch that show" hasn't disappeared; it's just that the "someone" is just now a pseudo-friend from a TikTok video.

In terms of being a place where Black consumers can source current information, BET.com provides a steady stream of content, but a "pull" marketing strategy is needed to give it life beyond the website. Some media companies put out content and hope people find and like it. The pull strategy is more holistic and relies on data to determine what a specific audience wants and feeds that demand. Today's consumers rarely peruse websites. Instead, they typically visit with a task in mind. Reimagining shows like the news program BET Tonight (1998-2001), which catered to a 35-and-older crowd interested in public affairs and pop culture, for quick and shareable consumption is also paramount to getting BET back to its position at the center of Black culture and conversation.

This leads to the final and hardest task for the new owner: getting audiences to actively participate in this conversation loop since people can choose whether to engage with content. Making 360-degree feedback available (something like Bravo's invitation to call in or submit questions during Watch What Happens Live) could help. BET can also capture audiences by reposting or highlighting user-generated content, which makes consumers feel like they can be a part of the information process.

Targeted messaging has been proven to resonate with Black audiences, and the message of a new (Black) owner could signal a reinvestment in content explicitly curated for Black audiences. As long as the new owner, regardless of race, respects and sees the value in Black consumers, there is an open lane waiting to be filled by a cultural authority for information.