Format
BET was founded by Robert L. Johnson in January of 1980. Johnson was besides a chair & chief executive officer of BET until handing over a title of CEO to Debra Lee. Inside 2001, BET was purchased by Viacom and then merged into its subsidiary, MTV Networks, but then, because of the yell of the network's workers, Viacom de-integrated BET from either MTV Networks.

In weekdays & Saturdays, BET focuses primarily in music programming sustaining shows prefer 106 and Park and Rap City, while besides airing melanize sitcoms such as The Parkers, black dramas like Soul Food, a could have-higher comedy program known as Comic View, and various blacken picture show.

In Sundays, BET carries gospel music & other religious programming for the greater a share of the day, and is house to numerous shows, including ''Let's Talk Church, hosted by Bobby Jones, a easily-known & liked Gospel singer in a melanize community.

BET has troika more music-oriented networks inside its stalls, BET Hip-Hop, BET Gospel, & a virtually all widely known BET Jazz (erst Gage Jazz).

Criticism
Several critics, from either Public Enemy rapper Chuck D [http://www.publicenemy.com/index.php?page=page3&item=31], to journalist George Curry [http://georgecurry.com/columns/index1.shtml?id=1059847337], to students at University of Maryland, College Park and Howard University [http://www.blackcollegewire.org/culture/040209_bet-uncut/], to writer Keith Boykin [http://www.keithboykin.com/arch/000539.html], to cartoonist Aaron McGruder of The Boondocks'', have protested BET's programming & actions. One of a virtually all normally-heard criticisms is a fact that the network is well-nigh alone depending upon music amusement, hip hop music in particular, and doesn't focus on the public affairs of the melanise community. This occurs as condition that has been mass produced worse by Viacom's cutbacks of BET's public affairs department & a firing of BET Tonight talk indicate unsuspecting hosts & social commentator Tavis Smiley in March 2001 [http://www.tmottgogo.com/tavis.html] [http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=4185]. BET so went in to discontinue BET Tonight altogether, along sustaining a youth panel program Teen Summit & morning news broadcast Lead, inside 2002.

It did, but, likewise launch the day-to-day newscast, BET Nightly News sustaining Jackie Reid, which began in 1999. It was replaced within October 2005 by a newly news operatiin, however by owning Jackie Reid when a independent anchor, that delivers news updates on BET throughout a day, non upright when asleep.

A channel has as well undergone criticism by numbers of melanise population world health organization sense that a channel assists to perpetuate harmful melanise stereotypes by airing mostly hip-hop videos, aimed at immature humans, that typically develop misogynistic, materialistic, and/or violent themes. Depreciator come likewise speedy to point retired a irony they see in the network's guide to likewise indicate hard religious programming when the week. A striking series & sitcoms that a network use aired own completely been reruns, including, in the past, shows like Amen and 227, and presently Girlfriends, The Parkers, and a Soul Food series.

There are as well people world health organization criticize the being of the channel altogether, believing that proclaiming something to exist as for merely a certain race makes it about impossible to eliminate racism from human culture.

A network's profits, & a tilt across its content, has spawned two or three little challenger aiming toward a African-Our contries market. A virtually all large competition, TV One, mostly eschews BET's music-based programming for other personal-oriented fare.

Popular Original BET Shows
''106 & Park: BET's Top 10 Live Rap City BET's Comic View BET: Uncut BET.com Countdown BET Style