‘It’s time for BET to be Black-owned again’: Diddy expresses interest in purchasing BET

Diddy is the latest person to express interest in buying a majority stake in BET Media Group, joining Tyler Perry and Byron Allen on Paramount’s short list of potential buyers.

“It’s time for @BET to go back to black ownership so we have the power to tell our own stories, control our own narrative!” the 53-year-old artist and businessman captioned an Instagram post on Wednesday. ‘This isn’t about me, this is about US!’

Diddy said he was in the process of “building a team of leaders in the culture to seek ownership” of media properties.

‘We have to unify our power and resources to create real change!’ he said, adding the hashtag #THETIMEISNOW.

Along with the message, he shared a clip from the Earn Your Leisure podcast in which host Rashad Bilal emphasized the enormous influence the media has and how it is “extremely important” for blacks, who are not represented in media ownership, to have their own media arm.

Along with the message, he shared a clip from the Earn Your Leisure podcast in which host Rashad Bilal emphasized the enormous influence the media has and how it is “extremely important” to black people, who are not represented in media ownership. , have their own media arm

In the clip, Bilal said it was “encouraging” to hear that Perry and Allen were linked to a possible purchase.

He said he reached out to Diddy, who told him about his plans to form a “supergroup” of black business magnates in an effort to make the massive purchase.

“Together we grow, not separately,” Bilal said in the clip Diddy posted.

Diddy is “exploring the opportunity” to buy the property from big media, a source said. the hollywood reporter Monday.

Insiders close to the New York City native said Wednesday TMZ that a potential deal is “a long way” from the negotiating table.

For the past decade, Diddy has chaired the Revolt network and has worked with Paramount in the past on projects like Making the Band.

Paramount, as a condition of the deal, hopes to stay in business with whoever ends up potentially buying the BET properties, a source told THR.

An informant said THR Earlier this month, Paramount began exploring selling its stake in the conglomerate, which includes the BET network, streaming service BET+, and VH1.

Byron Allen, 61, the owner of The Weather Channel, is also interested in buying BET. Pictured Sunday at her Oscar party in Beverly Hills.

Paramount has begun looking to sell most of its stake in BET Media Group, with Tyler Perry, 53, a potential buyer, as talks are in the preliminary stages. Photographed in October in Los Angeles

Paramount has begun exploring the sale of its stake in the conglomerate, which includes the BET network, the streaming service and VH1.

A spokesman for Allen, 61, who owns The Weather Channel, told THR that the businessman “is interested in buying BET and will be looking to acquire the network.”

A separate source told the outlet that Perry, 53, who has long worked with BET, has been a potential buyer for the entity.

Perry has had a deal with Paramount for more than five years, which is up for renewal. If the entertainment mogul were to buy Paramount’s stock, he would own the network on which many of his television shows air.

If a deal is reached, sources told the outlet, Paramount would be a minority shareholder in BET.

The BET company itself has investors in its subsidiaries, as Perry already owns a stake in BET+ (which launched in 2019), while Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones are among those who have invested in BET Studios. The investments could cloud the chances of potential mergers involved in such a deal.

If the deal goes through, according to THR, it would build Paramount’s capital to potentially expand its Paramount+ streaming service amid a time of rapid change in the industry.

sources said The Wall Street Journalwho first broke news of the potential sale, that Paramount’s “decision to consider selling a majority stake in the assets, which cater primarily to black audiences, is part of the entertainment giant’s effort to shore up resources to bolster its flagship streaming service Paramount+ and its advertiser-backed free streaming platform Pluto TV.’

Earlier this year, Paramount said it planned to merge Paramount+ with Showtime, prompting a series of layoffs and management changes.

Perry has a long working relationship with BET, having been behind her first feature film she wrote, 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman.

A potential deal could give Perry two large-scale cable channels to add to his portfolio and a streaming service.

Perry has a long working relationship with BET, having been behind her first feature film she wrote, 2005’s Diary of a Mad Black Woman in 2005.

BET, short for Black Entertainment Television, was created in 1980 by former cable lobbyist Robert Johnson and his wife Sheila Johnson. Paramount (formerly known as Viacom) bought it for $2.3 billion in 2000.

Major companies, including Coca-Cola and General Motors, have pledged to heavily invest their advertising budgets in minority-owned media companies, THR reported, which would not affect Paramount, but could benefit companies owned by Perry.