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It is always nice when we can see a staple network of cable television from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s successfully make the shift to the internet age. Not every channel has been able to pull this off, at least not in a way that allows them to retain relevancy. But, then again, not every channel offers a range of entertainment that has retained an equal amount of demand in the 21st century as it did in the 20th century.
As the 21st century continues, it becomes more and more common for companies to cater to entertainment in some way. This is seen most notably with Netflix and social media, where there is an overwhelming influx of bite-sized forms of entertainment. This could be argued to be because of binge culture, which has arisen as a result of streaming services like Netflix.
It seems as if black entertainment, specifically hip hop music, has a more widespread appeal than ever before. With hip hop being easily one of the most popular musical styles around the world (some even say that it is to the 21st century what rock and roll was to the 20th), there is a newfound and reinvigorated mass-market demand for black artists, actors, musicians, and, essentially, black culture.
That is not to say that there has not always been a demand for black art. Of course, we are all well aware of how commercially successful Elvis Presley was able to become in the 1950s and 60s by appropriating and whitewashing black music. Heck, even rock and roll itself is steeped heavily in black musical roots such as the blues, jazz, and gospel. However, today, compared with years past, there is a greater opportunity for truly black forms of art to be successful in mainstream pop culture.
Whereas many black news and entertainment outlets of the past were relatively niche in nature - meaning that you wouldn't see a whole lot of white people subscribing to, say, Jet magazine - the fact that black music and entertainment has reached a new level of mainstream recognition allows for traditionally black networks, such as BET, to find new commercial success.
History
Robert L. Johnson, of Freeport Illinois, spent many years lobbying for the cable industry. However, once lobbying finally took its toll, he decided to step down from that profession and start his own cable television network. Armed with a $15,000 loan and a $150,000 investment from media executive John Malone, he set out to work on his vision.
Johnson launched Black Entertainment Television (BET) on January 25th, 1980. BET originally aired as a two-hour block of programming on what was then known as the Madison Square Garden Sports Network (three months after BET launched, MSGSN changed its name to the USA Network). In its infancy, BET focused primarily on airing music videos and reruns of famous black sitcoms. By 1983, though, BET had become a full-scale cable network of its own, independent of USA or any other block of programming available at the time.
In 1991, BET became the first black-controlled network to ever be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. This led to BET branching out into other media, including expansion networks designed specifically for smaller subsets of the black community â such as BET Her, which launched as BET Jazz to showcase black jazz musicians.
In 1998, BET partnered with Starz! to create a premium channel dedicated to black movies. This led to the network losing its status as a majority black-owned company and being swallowed up by the media conglomerate, Viacom. To this day, though, BET still stands as perhaps the only cable network devoted solely to black entertainment.
Design
BET.com is an extremely intuitive site that is expertly organized and clean. I am a fan of clean lines and clearly delineated sections and boxes to fit content into when it comes to site design.
At the top of the page, two boxes are labeled "NAACP Image Awards" and "Shows." If you were keeping up with black current events, you would know that these boxes contain information about the upcoming NAACP Image Awards. If you are interested in watching your favorite BET shows, then these boxes are perfect for you.
Look for the section titled Shows in the menu bar above the page, or scroll down the page to find it. Each individual section of the site is presented, one by one. You can always find these same sections at the top of the page, in the site menu bar. Click on Shows to access them. I love how easy and intuitive this site is to use!
Content
BET publishes news and opinion pieces related to African-American culture. The articles are generally journalistic in nature and well-written. They often have an op-ed slant, but not always. This is refreshing from an entertainment news site.
Please note that BET offers its viewers access to its lengthy history of programming, as well as the ability to stream current shows and even tune into live BET broadcasting at any time of day or night. In order to watch BET live on your computer or smartphone, please sign-in with your cable provider.
Desktop and Mobile Experience
I have already sung the praises of BET's desktop and web browsing experience. Oh, the mobile version of the site is just as good, too, by the way. But one more thing that makes BET stand out is the fact that it offers two separate apps in addition to this expertly designed website: BET Now and BET+.
BET Now is the app version of BET.com. It enables you to do everything that you can do on the website, just in a more streamlined fashion, on your mobile device. In order to get the most out of this app, again, you will have to sign in with your cable provider.
BET+ is BET's own premium subscription-based streaming service. With BET+ you can stream hundreds of hours of classic movies, old television shows, and exclusive BET+ content that you can't find anywhere else. This app is better designed than BET Now, but for a free app, BET Now is certainly nothing to trash either. Whether on your computer or your mobile device, there are plenty of easy and enjoyable ways to indulge in great black content thanks to BET+.
Pricing and Plans
So, as I was discussing a moment ago, there are several different ways to enjoy BET at various levels, with varying payments and arrangements to made (as well as simply using BET.com as a news site with no paywall).
To access BET's current content and live television, you must have a cable provider.
And BET+ will run you $9.99 per month. It is certainly something to consider for those who have room in their budgets for another paid streaming service.
Suggestions that I have for BET
I understand that BET is, first and foremost, an entertainment news site. Therefore, I may be nitpicking here, but I would like to see BET expand its hard news section. Politics and activism, it seems, is especially important to the black community (I mean, a whole protest movement had to be started recently to remind America that black lives, in fact, do matter). So, as this is the case, I think maybe BET could maybe stand to offer more hard news and political opinion articles not only pertaining to local black communities but national and global black news as well.
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