Billionaires Tyler Perry and Byron Allen are in a race to buy a majority stake in Paramount Global's BET Media Group. BET Media includes not only the BET cable network, but also production company sister station VH1, and what some see as the future - the streaming service BET.
A second source told THR that longtime BET partner Tyler Perry is in talks to buy a stake. Perry's deal with Paramount, which began in 2017, is said to be close, and the BET acquisition, if successful, would give him ownership of the brands that carry many of his shows.
Bet network could be sold for as much as $2 billion.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which was first to report Paramount Global is interested in selling off BET in an article published Monday, “The decision to consider selling a majority stake of the assets, which cater primarily to Black audiences, is part of the entertainment giant’s effort to shore up resources to bolster its flagship Paramount+ streaming service and its advertiser-supported free streaming platform Pluto TV, some of the people said.”
Paramount, which has not publicly released BET+ subscriber size or profitability, is entertaining the idea that someone like Perry or Allen would be able to leverage the BET brand with greater focus, energy and expertise than Paramount itself. It’s unclear if other would-be suitors are in the hunt as well. ~ATLANTA MUSIC TV
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