Paramount Skydance’s BET has formed its first board of advisers, saying the group of six “cultural icons, business leaders and industry visionaries” will help guide the brand’s “continued evolution as a force at the intersection of media, community and culture.”
The six members on the inaugural BET board of advisers are: BET founder Bob Johnson; Queen Latifah, Grammy-winning artist, actress, producer and entrepreneur; LL Cool J, artist, actor and entrepreneur and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee; Troy Vincent, the NFL’s executive vice president of football operations; Raymond J. McGuire, president of financial advisory and asset management firm Lazard; and George Cheeks, chair of TV Media at Paramount Skydance.
The advisory board will serve as “a strategic and cultural sounding board, offering insight, perspective, and accountability as BET expands its reach and continues to champion the voices and stories that move culture forward,” according to BET’s announcement.
The move comes under big changes recently at BET under Paramount Skydance. Next month, BET is shutting down BET+, whereupon the streaming service’s content will merge with the parent company’s flagship Paramount+. In addition, Paramount acquired Tyler Perry‘s 25% ownership stake in BET+.
Last December, longtime BET exec Scott Mills announced his exit after 23 years with the company, coming a few months after David Ellison’s Skydance Media completed its takeover of Paramount Global. Louis Carr, previously BET‘s president of media sales, took over as president, reporting to Cheeks.
Johnson’s appointment to the new BET advisory board formally brings him back into the company’s fold two decades after he departed as CEO. Johnson sold Black Entertainment Television to Viacom (a predecessor company to Paramount Skydance) in a stock deal worth $3 billion that closed in 2001, making the media mogul a billionaire. He remained CEO of BET until 2006. Johnson subsequently formed RLJ Entertainment, which operated British TV and film streamer Acorn TV and UMC (Urban Movie Channel); AMC Global Media bought out RLJ Entertainment in 2018.
Carr, in a statement about the new advisory board, said, “BET has always been more than a platform. It is a cultural institution with a responsibility to serve, reflect and advance our community. As we enter this next chapter, this board brings together leaders whose influence, perspective and integrity will help ensure we continue to honor that responsibility while building what comes next.”
Leave a Reply