Black Entertainment Television (BET for short) is the first television network geared towards African-Americans.
BET was founded by Robert L. Johnson in January of 1980. Johnson is also the chairman and chief executive officer of BET. Today, BET is owned by Viacom, and operated by its subsidiary, MTV Networks.
By some in the U.S., the existence of BET is questioned as being discriminatory. Others point out that the network plays rap most of the time, and doesn't focus on the public affairs of the black community. This is a problem that has been made worse by Viacom's cutbacks of BET's public affairs department, although under Viacom, BET launched a daily newscast. Recently BET has begun adding more family friendly shows, such as reruns of The Cosby Show. On Sundays, BET becomes BET Gospel for the greater part of the day, and is home to many shows, including Let's Talk Church , hosted by Bobby Jones, a well known and liked Gospel singer within the black community.
BET also never really uses its platform as a motivator or educator of Black America. While BET is successful in some ways, it has left much on the table as it pertains to addressing issues and concerns of the more educated viewer, regardless of race.
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