Paramount is making big changes to BET+. Starting this June, they will close the service and blend its content into Paramount+.
Tyler Perry is involved, too. He’s selling his 25% stake in BET+ back to Paramount. This came from a deal he made in 2019 with Viacom, BET’s earlier parent company. While the exact terms haven’t been shared, Perry will stay on as a partner, continuing his work with BET.
Currently, BET+ costs $5.99 a month with ads and $9.99 without. It offers over 1,000 hours of content, including popular shows like The Ms. Pat Show and Zatima. Launched in 2019, this service was set up just before Viacom merged with CBS to create Paramount Global.
Louis Carr, BET’s president, announced in a memo that Paramount+ will be the main home for BET content. “This powerful next step ensures our stories and creators go further than ever,” he wrote. The aim is to showcase Black stories alongside Paramount’s premium offerings.
Carr emphasized that BET remains crucial to Paramount’s long-term strategy. The linear BET channel and BET Studios will still operate as normal. He mentioned how BET is a key part of Black culture, and its digital presence will keep engaging audiences across various platforms, including social media.
Interestingly, a recent report from Nielsen found that streaming services are growing rapidly. In fact, in the U.S. alone, viewers spent more than 1.5 trillion minutes streaming just in the first half of 2023. This shift shows how blending services like BET+ with larger platforms can attract even more viewers.
As Carr noted:
“BET has momentum. We’ve reached new audiences through our FAST channels, engaging more viewers than ever.”
The decision to merge BET+ with Paramount+ reflects a broader trend in streaming where consolidation is often seen as a way to maximize reach and improve content discovery.
This transition signifies a bold move not only for BET but also for how Black storytelling will evolve and thrive on larger platforms. With this change, fans can expect to see their favorite stories more easily accessible, ensuring that rich narratives continue to resonate.
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