Black Entertainment Television (BET, part of BET Networks) is an American, Viacom-owned cable network based in Washington, D.C.. Currently viewed in more than 90 million homes worldwide, it is the most prominent television network targeting young African American audiences. The network was launched on January 25, 1980, by its founder, Robert L. Johnson. Most programming of the network comprises mainstream hip hop music and R&B music videos and urban-oriented movies and series.

Its programming began with a wide scope of comedy, music, public affairs, and news programming: ComicView; Video Soul with Donnie Simpson, Video Vibrations, Softones, Unreal/Planet Groove/Caribbean Rhythms, Jam Zone/Cita's World; Teen Summit; and BET News with Ed Gordon, Lead Story, BET Tonight with Tavis Smiley, and BET Nightly News. In 2000, it began to be heavily focused on music and completely cut its news division.

Its urban music programming show 106 & Park debuted then. Taped before a live audience, the hosts count down the top 10 videos requested by viewers and inviting rap and R&B artists to promote their music. Additionally, the channel shows syndicated television series, original programs, and some public affairs programs. On Sunday mornings, BET broadcasts a lineup of network-produced Christian programming and gospel music; other, non-affiliated Christian programs are also shown during the early morning hours daily. BET has been the target of criticism and protests for broadcasting videos and programs accused of promoting immorality and stereotypes.^[1][2]

History[link]

After stepping down as a lobbyist for the cable industry, Freeport, Illinois, native Robert L. Johnson decided to launch his own cable television network. Johnson would soon acquire a loan for $15,000, and earned a $500,000 investment from John Malone to start the network.^[3] BET began broadcasting on January 25, 1980.^[4] Initially, the network lineup consisted of music videos and reruns of popular black sitcoms.^[3]

BET launched a news program, BET News, in 1988, with Ed Gordon as the anchor. Gordon would later host other programs and specials on BET, such as Black Men Speak Out: The Aftermath, related to the 1992 Los Angeles riots and a recurring interview show Conversations with Ed Gordon.^[5] In 1996, the talk show BET Tonight debuted with Tavis Smiley as host; in 2001, Ed Gordon replaced Tavis Smiley. In 2002, as part of a reorganization focusing on entertainment productions, BET cut its news staff and canceled BET Tonight along with other public affairs shows hosted by Gordon, Lead Story and Teen Summit.^[6][7] From 2001 to July 29, 2005, BET had a daily evening news program BET Nightly News, hosted by Michelle Miller and Jacque Reid.^[8]

In 1991, the network became the first black-controlled company on the New York Stock Exchange.^[3] In 2003, the network was no longer a black owned business when it was bought by media conglomerate Viacom for $3 billion. In 2005, Johnson retired from the network, turning over his titles as President and Chief Executive Officer to Debra L. Lee, a former Vice President.

Following the death of civil rights leader Coretta Scott King in 2006, BET broadcast its regularly scheduled music video programming rather than cover King's funeral live as CNN, Fox News Channel, MSNBC, and BET competitors

In 2007, the network expanded into other BET-related digital cable networks: Centric, BET Hip-Hop, and BET Gospel. BET also launched a batch of original programming, including reality shows Baldwin Hills and Hell Date, competition show Sunday Best, and town hall-style discussion show Hip Hop vs. America.^[9] BET also Network President of Entertainment, Reginald Hudlin, resigned on September 11, 2008. He was then replaced by Stephen Hill, who is also Executive Vice President of Music Programming and Talent.^[10]

The New York Times reported that the Reverend Delman L. Coates and his organization Enough is Enough led protests every weekend outside the residences of BET executives against what they claim are negative stereotypes of black people perpetuated by BET music videos.^[1] Enough is Enough backed an April 2008 report titled The Rap on Rap by the Parents Television Council that claimed that BET rap programming, which they believed contained gratuitous sexual, violent, and profane content, was targeting children and teens.^[11]

BET announced in March 2010 that Gordon would return to the network to host "a variety of news programs and specials."^[12]

In a 2010 interview, BET co-founder Sheila Johnson said she herself is "ashamed" of what the network has become. “I don’t watch it. I suggest to my kids that they don't watch it," she said. “When we started BET, it was going to be the Ebony magazine on television. We had public affairs programming. We had news... I had a show called Teen Summit, we had a large variety of programming, but the problem is that then the video revolution started up... And then something started happening, and I didn't like it at all. And I remember during those days we would sit up and watch these videos and decide which ones were going on and which ones were not. We got a lot of backlash from recording artists...and we had to start showing them. I didn’t like the way women were being portrayed in these videos.”^[13]

Criticism[link]

Public Enemy rapper Chuck D,^[14] journalist George Curry,^[15] writer Keith Boykin,^[16] comic book creator Christopher Priest,^[17] filmmaker Spike Lee,^[18] Syracuse University professor of finance Dr. Boyce Watkins^[19] and cartoonist Aaron McGruder (who, in addition to numerous critical references throughout his series, The Boondocks, made a particular episode criticizing the channel), all have protested BET's programming and actions. As a result, BET heavily censors suggestive content from the videos that it airs, often with entire verses and scenes removed from certain rap videos.^[1][2] Furthermore, scholars within the black community maintain that BET perpetuates and justifies racism by affecting the interpersonal beliefs others may generalize about blacks, and also by affecting the psyche of its young viewers through its bombardment of negative images of blacks.^[20]

The network also attracted criticism in 2006 for not broadcasting live coverage of the funeral of civil rights activist Coretta Scott King, as competing networks TV One and Black Family Channel were. Its coverage was limited to pre-recorded minute-long reports by senior news correspondent Andre Showell shown periodically throughout the event, although the funeral was streamed live on BET's website. Michael Lewellen, BET's senior vice president for corporate communications, defended the decision: "We weighed a number of different options. In the end, we chose to offer a different kind of experience for BET viewers." Lewellen also said that BET received around "two dozen" phone calls and "a handful" of emails criticizing BET for not showing the King funeral live.^[8] On the evening of the funeral day (February 7, 2006), BET broadcast tribute special Coretta Scott King: Married to the Mission and repeated it the following Sunday, February 12.^[21] Showell hosted a program featuring highlights of the funeral, Coretta Scott King: Celebrating Her Spirit, that broadcast that same day.^[22] In its 2007 convention, the National Association of Black Journalists gave BET its Thumbs Down Award for not broadcasting King's funeral live.^[23]

Sister networks[link]

The spin off channel BETJ, (originally called BET On Jazz, and later BET Jazz), aired from 1996 until the fall of 2009. Programs on it included My Two Cents with Keith Boykin, Bryonn Bain, Crystal McCreary Anthony and Staceyann Chin, The Best Shorts hosted by Abiola Abrams, Living the Life of Marley about Ky-Mani Marley, My Model is Better Than Your Model with Eva Pigford and The Turn On hosted by Charlotte Burley. On September 28, 2009 BETJ was rebranded Centric.^[24] It features music, movies, reality shows and specials for adults. It is confirmed to show reruns of Soul Train and on November 29, The Soul Train Awards made a return. The network also operate two digital music channels, BET Gospel and BET Hip-Hop, both the sister channels airing programs that are described in their names.

Competitors[link]

BET's huge success, and the controversy over its content, has spawned a few smaller competitors aiming toward the African-American market. Rivals NUE TV (New Urban Entertainment Television) and Black Family Channel (formerly MBC) had little success. After the failure of NUE TV, Radio One again attempted a network: TV One in 2004. TV One has thrived and succeeded, mostly by eschewing BET's music-based programming for more family-oriented fare and programming for older and wealthier African Americans. BET continues to be mostly watched by the youth. A possible new arrival to Internet TV and broadcasting, The African American Channel, is making an attempt to enter the picture. Broadcasting and Cable magazine pointed out that The African American Channel could become a competitor of BET and others such as Black Family Channel and TV One in the not-so-distant future.^[25] In 2008, rapper Master P, who claims to have a "great relationship with BET", announced the launch of Better Black Television, which he intended to meet "consumer demand for family friendly hip-hop content".^[26]

International[link]

BET International[link]

BET UK first transmitted on Videotron (now known as Virgin Media) and several other cable networks from 1993 up until 1996.^[27]

In May 2007 by Ofcom, BET International Inc was given a license to re-broadcast in the United Kingdom. BET International is the first international version of the channel and is available in Europe, Africa and the Middle East through satellite providers.

BET is available on Sky channel 191 after launching on Wednesday February 27, 2008 and on Freesat channel 140 after launching on August 8, 2008. BET+1 is also available on Sky channel 198 and Freesat channel 141, and is Free-to-air. BET International shows a mix of content from the main BET channel and locally produced shows. An exclusive HD version of the channel was made to show the BET Awards 2009 on Freesat EPG 142

BET is additionally an associate member of the Caribbean Cable Cooperative.^[28]

Canada[link]

BET became available in Canada in October 1997 on most cable and satellite carriers. The Canadian feed is the same as the American feed, though sitcoms and films with rights belonging to other parties in Canada are replaced with a block of music videos without a BET logo appearing on-screen.

BET Awards[link]

The BET Awards is an awards ceremony established by BET in 2001. The awards celebrates the achievements of African Americans in music, acting, sports and other fields of entertainment throughout the year. Usually held in Los Angeles (since 2002), it is also presented annually and broadcast live on BET. At times the live airing proves problematic because of its content. On June 27, 2010, the awards ceremony celebrated its 10-year anniversary.

BET Interactive[link]

In 2006, BET Interactive, LLC became a subsidiary of BET.^[29] BET also has a digital group including BET.com, BET on Blast, BET on Demand and BET mobile.^[30]

Original series[link]

See also[link]

	African American portal
	Television portal

• BET Awards
• BET Gospel
• BET Hip Hop Awards
• Blackbuster movies
• Centric
• List of BET VJs/personalities
• Rip The Runway
• The BET Honors
• TV One

References[link]

Further reading[link]

• Muhammad, Tariq K. (June 1997), "The Branding of BET", Black Enterprise 27 (11): pp. 156–171, http://books.google.com/books?id=bhAOri-bwB8C 

External links[link]

• BET.COM
• BET Shows Official Site

v t e Viacom Inc. Corporate directors George S. Abrams · Philippe Dauman (CEO) · Thomas E. Dooley · Ellen V. Futter · Robert Kraft · Alan C. Greenberg · Charles Phillips · Sumner Redstone (Chairman) · Shari Redstone · Frederic Salerno · William Schwartz MTV Networks MTV Networks Company, Inc. MTV · VH1 · Nickelodeon · Comedy Central · CMT · Spike · more... BET Networks BET · BET Gospel · BET Hip-Hop · Centric · BET UK Paramount Motion Pictures Group Paramount Pictures Corporation: Paramount Pictures · Paramount Vantage · Paramount Classics · Republic Pictures · United International Pictures (50% with NBCUniversal's Universal Studios) MTV branded labels: MTV Films · Nickelodeon Movies Other units: EPIX (co-owned with Lions Gate Entertainment and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) Television stations KGBS-CA (Tr3́s) · KHMM-CA (Tr3́s) · KMMK-LP / KMUM-CA / KMMW-LP (Nick Jr) · KZMM-CA (Tr3́s) Viacom Music Group Comedy Central Records · Nick Records Miscellaneous assets Viacom International · Viacom 18 (India)  · Viacom Entertainment Store  · Bellator Fighting Championships  · MovieTickets.com  · URGE See also Template:MTV Networks Europe · Viacom (1971–2005) · National Amusements · Gulf+Western Annual Revenue: $17.3 billion USD ( 10% 3Q 2005) · Employees: 38,310 · Stock Symbol: NASDAQ: VIA, NASDAQ: VIAB · Website: viacom.com

E!
Launched	July 31, 1987 as Movietime, June 1, 1990 as E! (U.S.) December 2, 2002 (Germany)
Owned by	NBCUniversal
Slogan	Everything entertainment.
Headquarters	Los Angeles, California, United States
Formerly called	Movie Time (1987–1990)
Sister channel(s)	NBC NBCUniversal Cable Networks
Website	http://www.eonline.com
Availability
Satellite
DirecTV (US)	Channel 236 (SD/HD) Channel 1236 (VOD)
DirecTV (Latin America)	Channel 222
Dish Network (US)	Channel 114 (SD/HD)
Dish Network Mexico	Channel 212
Sky (UK & Ireland)	Channel 151
SKY Italia (Italy)	Channel 129
Foxtel (Australia)	Channel 121
Austar (Australia)	Channel 121
SKY Network Television (New Zealand)	Channel 011
DStv (Southern Africa)	Channel 124
CanalSat (France)	Channel 29
TrueVisions (Thailand)	Channel 53
Astro Nusantara (Indonesia)	Channel 46
Astro (Malaysia)	Channel 712 (SD) Channel 742 (HD)
Cyfrowy Polsat (Poland)	Channel 32
NOVA (Greece)	Channel 210
Digiturk (Turkey)	Channel 112
TotalTV (Serbia, Montenegro, Slovenia, Macedonia)	Channel 17 (Serbia)
Dialogtv (Sri Lanka & Canada)	Channel 19
SKY Brasil (Brasil)	Channel 33
TVCabo (Portugal)	Channel 75
Net Digital (Brasil)	Channel 84
Tring Digital (Albania)	Channel 30
yes (Israel)	Channel 26
Orbit Showtime (Arab World)	channel385
Indovision (Indonesia)	Channel 242
Dolce (Romania)	Channel 144
Bell TV (Canada)	Channel 621
TVCable (Ecuador)	Channel 20
Cable
First Media (Indonesia)	Channel 70
Available on most cable systems	Check local listings
UPC Ireland	Channel 501
Virgin Media (United Kingdom)	Channel 156
StarHub TV (Singapore)	Channel 441
HOT (Israel)	Channel 31
TelstraClear InHomeTV (New Zealand)	Channel 11
UPC (Netherlands)	Channel 115
UPC Austria	Channel 148
UPC Romania	Channel 54
naxoo (Switzerland)	Channel 33
UPC Poland	Channel 113
SBB Serbia	Channel 311
SkyCable (Philippines)	Channel 57
Verizon FiOS
IPTV
AT&T U-Verse (US)	Channel 134 (SD) Channel 1134 (HD)
Now TV (Hong Kong)	Channel 531
Vodafone Casa TV (Portugal)	Channel 102
Fetch TV (Australia)	Channel 118
A1 Kabel TV (Austria)	Channel 519
meo (Portugal)	Channel 84 (SD) Channel 83 (HD)

E! Entertainment Television is an American basic cable and satellite television network, owned by NBCUniversal. It features entertainment-related programming, reality television, feature films and occasionally series and specials unrelated to the entertainment industry.

E! currently has an audience reach of 88 million cable and satellite viewers in the U.S. and 600 million homes internationally.

History[link]

E! Entertainment Television was founded by Larry Namer and Alan Mruvka.^[1][2]

The network launched on July 31, 1987 as Movietime, a service that aired movie trailers, entertainment news, event and awards coverage, and interviews as an early example of a national barker channel.^[3] Early Movietime hosts included Greg Kinnear, Paula Abdul, Katie Wagner, Julie Moran, Suzanne Kay (daughter of Diahann Carroll), Mark DeCarlo, Sam Rubin and Richard Blade. Three years later, in June 1990, Movietime was renamed E! Entertainment Television^[4] to emphasize its widening coverage of the celebrity-industrial complex, contemporary film, television and music, daily Hollywood gossip, and fashion.

Controlling ownership was originally held by a consortium of five cable companies (Comcast, Continental Cablevision, Cox Cable, TCI, and Warner Cable), HBO/Warner Bros., and various founding shareholders, with HBO directly programming and managing the network. In 1989, after Time-Life bought Warner Brothers to fend off a takeover bid by Paramount, the new Time Warner company held four of the eight major ownership positions and took over management control of Movietime and renamed the network E! Entertainment Television. In 1997, Comcast, one of the minority partners, teamed up with The Walt Disney Company to buy the channel after Time-Warner had exercised their put agreement.^[5] In November 2006, Comcast (which eventually had the largest ownership stake in most of the network through mergers of forerunners of TCI and Continental under various circumstances) acquired Disney's 39.5% share of E! for $1.23 billion to gain full ownership of the network as part of a broader programming carriage agreement between Disney/ABC and Comcast.^[6]

Comcast Entertainment Group, the company's television unit, became a division of NBCUniversal Television Group, after Comcast acquired a 51% majority stake in NBCUniversal in January 2011.^[7] E!'s only sister networks prior to the NBC Universal merger were Style Network and G4, along with Comcast's sports networks: Versus, Comcast SportsNet and Golf Channel. In the case of Versus, E! staff produced that network's Sports Soup, while the Orlando-based Golf Channel featured no crossovers with E! at all due to incompatible audiences and operations. Versus and Golf Channel were taken under the direct control of the NBC Sports division, with the former being renamed NBC Sports Network in January 2012, and are no longer connected to their former sister networks beyond advertising and in-house operations.

On July 9, 2012, E! will undergo a brand refresh with the introduction of a revised logo (the first change to its logo since the network rebranded as E! in 1990), removing the exclamation mark background behind the "E" but retaining the exclamation point underneath, along with a new slogan "Pop of Culture"; the brand refresh will coincide with the premiere of the music-based reality series Opening Act. In addition, the network will eventually introduce scripted series programming, in addition to its existing reality and documentary series. The changes were announced during E!'s programming upfront presentation on April 30, 2012.^[8]

Programming[link]

News[link]

E! is one of the only U.S. general-entertainment cable channels that broadcasts a daily news program; its flagship entertainment news program is E! News, which debuted on September 1, 1991. The weekday program (which also has an hour-long weekend edition) features stories and gossip about celebrities, and the film, music and television industry, and has been broadcast under various formats since its launch, even being aired live for a time in the mid-2000s. First hosted by Dagny Hultgreen, it has been hosted by Ryan Seacrest and Giuliana Rancic since 2006.

E! News was the only entertainment news show on the channel for much of its history, until 2006 when the channel launched The Daily 10, hosted by Sal Masekela and Catt Sadler (Debbie Matenopoulos also co-hosted from the show's inception until 2008); the series was cancelled in September 2010 after E! announced that the weekday editions of E! News would be expanded to one hour starting on October 25, 2010,^[9] and in the midst of controversy over a joke by Loveline co-host Mike Catherwood, who filled in for Masekela on the show frequently during 2010, that openly gay singer and ex-American Idol contestant Adam Lambert would enjoy being in jail with all men, during a story on the September 17, 2010 edition of The Daily 10 on an altercation Lambert allegedly had with a paparazzi.

Outside of E! News telecasts, the channel runs an E! News-branded ticker displaying entertainment news headlines each half-hour during regular programming (except during airings of E! News and The Soup, and the channel's early morning infomercial block), which is updated daily; fast-breaking entertainment headlines (e.g., celebrity arrest or death) may also be displayed on a ticker, during any program when warranted.

Original series[link]

E! is known for its live red carpet pre-shows for the industry's three prominent award shows, the Primetime Emmy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards, famous for its fashion critiques by Joan Rivers; Rivers has also hosted post-awards specials titled Fashion Police, which became a regular weekly series in September 2010. The network also produces a decent amount of documentary and biographical series, most notably E! True Hollywood Story; many of E!'s original specials are entertainment-related ranging from light fare such as 25 Cutest Child Stars All Grown Up to serious fare such as 15 Most Unforgettable Hollwood Tragedies. It also produces specials centering on investigative and crime stories including E! Investigates, which features topical investigative reports on subjects ranging from child prostitution to teenage pregnancy.

In recent years, the network has become popular for its reality television programs. Its most popular series as of 2011 is Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which has spawned three spinoffs (Kourtney and Khloé Take Miami, Kourtney and Kim Take New York, and Khloe and Lamar). Other reality programs that have aired on E! include The Anna Nicole Show, Sunset Tan, Gastineau Girls, The Girls Next Door (which itself has spawned two spinoffs Holly's World and Kendra), The Spin Crowd, Married to Rock, and most recently, Ice Loves Coco, and Dirty Soap.

E! airs three comedy programs: the late night talk show Chelsea Lately, hosted by comedienne Chelsea Handler, its spinoff After Lately, and The Soup (based on the popular 1991-2002 E! series Talk Soup), featuring clips of the previous week's TV shows with humorous commentary delivered by the host, actor/comedian Joel McHale.

Uncharacteristic for any television network, E! airs the full credits of the current program at the show's beginning rather than the end; some programs, most prominently E! News, air their copyright tags in a similar fashion, and many series often feature production company credits at the start of the final segment of a program. However, feature films airing on the channel display the credits at the traditional end of program placement.

Acquired series[link]

Over the years, E! has occasionally run acquired programming including reruns of Alice, Absolutely Fabulous, several 20/20 news programs from ABC, and edited 60-minute versions of Saturday Night Live, though fewer of these programs currently air. The only programming currently airing on E! that they do not produce are reruns of the former HBO series Sex and the City and films under the banner "Movies We Love"; the latter was part of a since-abandoned initiative by the network to use films to increase their ratings. The network has also begun to air second runs of NBC series such as The Voice, Fashion Star, Whitney, and Are You There, Chelsea?, and in the past has aired previews of G4 programming to give that network an extended promotional platform due to their lower carriage due to being removed from DirecTV in November 2010.

E! HD[link]

The network launched a high definition simulcast on December 8, 2008, like the rest of E!'s sister lifestyle and sports networks owned by former parent Comcast Entertainment Group and subsequently the NBC cable networks, airing in the 1080i format. Currently filmed content and all of the network's post-2010 content, along with limited pre-2010 content are carried in the format, with HD programming airing in a letterbox format on the SD channel (films remain in 480i due to contractual or technical reasons). The HD feed is available in the United States on DirecTV,^[10] Dish Network, Verizon FiOS, and AT&T Uverse; and in Malaysia on Astro.

During E!'s run as a broadcast service in Canada, the E! Ontario version of the service until the December 2008 discontinuation of the E! broadcast television system was available in HD over Hamilton, Ontario-based CHCH-TV (channel 11) on their channel 18 digital signal.

E! Online[link]

E! Online is the online arm of E!, featuring live updates on entertainment news stories; the website includes a online-only entertainment news bulletin titled E! News Now, which is updated each weekday. The website also provides live streaming video of major red carpet events including movie premieres and award shows such as the Academy Awards and the Emmys, along with some blogs involving shows such as The Soup. Columnists featured on the website include Kristin dos Santos (the "Watch with Kristin" television blog), Ted Casablanca ("The Awful Truth" gossip blog) and Marc Malkin (writer of an eponymous gossip blog and host of a daily videoblog on the site).

As part of the rebrand of the cable channel on July 9, 2012, EOnline.com will undergo a redesign their website to be compatible for tablet computers.^[11]

International versions[link]

Canada[link]

Unlike most international cable channels that have licensed an American cable channel's branding and programming, E! has existed as two separate television channels in Canada.

On September 7, 2007, Canwest Global Communications rebranded its CH television system as E!. CH originally launched on February 12, 2001 by CHCH/Hamilton, Ontario as a secondary service of the Global Television Network; the CH/E! system would later include four additional Canwest-owned stations in Quebec (CJNT/Montreal), British Columbia (CHEK/Victoria and CHBC/Kelowna) and Alberta (CHCA/Red Deer), and three affiliates owned by Jim Pattison Group in British Columbia (CKPG/Prince George and CFJC/Kamloops) and Alberta (CHAT/Medicine Hat). The E! television system shut down on September 1, 2009 due to low ratings and corporate financial difficulties that eventually led to Canwest filing for bankruptcy protection and selling its properties to Shaw Media; the E! O&O stations experienced varied fates (CHCH and CJMT were sold to Channel Zero, CHEK was sold to an employee-led group; CHBC remained with Canwest and was converted into a Global O&O, and CHCA ceased operations outright), while the Pattison Group stations affiliated with the Rogers Media-owned Citytv system.^[12] As E!, local news and other regional programming as well as most local community sponsorships on the O&O station used local branding (using the callsign branding scheme common with Canadian stations not owned by a network or television system); this decision was at least partly made to avoid confusion with E! News, but likely intended to ensure that local newscasts were not perceived as celebrity-oriented.

The E! brand would later return to Canada on November 1, 2010, when CTVglobemedia (whose assets are now owned by Bell Media) signed a multi-year/multi-platform agreement with Comcast to rebrand Category 2 specialty channel Star! (which had a similar format to E! U.S. and had carried some of its programming prior to the 2007 rebranding of CH) into a Canadian version of E! on November 29, 2010.^[13]

See also[link]

• ReelzChannel - an American digital cable and satellite channel that has the same concept as original Movie Time.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• E! Online International Official Site
• E! – Latin America Official Site (In Spanish)
• Wikinews interview with Michael Musto about the art of celebrity journalism

v t e NBCUniversal LLC A joint venture of Comcast (51%) and General Electric (49%) Company Officials Board of Directors Stephen B. Burke (CEO) · Brian Roberts · Michael Angelakis · Jeffrey Immelt · Keith Sherin Senior Corporate Executives Stephen B. Burke (CEO) · Matt Bond · Lynn Calpeter (CFO) · Steve Capus · Richard Cotton · Dick Ebersol · Patricia Fili-Krushel · Robert Greenblatt · Bonnie Hammer · Ted Harbert · Mark Hoffman · Paula Madison · Ron Meyer · Adam Miller · Jeff Shell · Page Thompson · Lauren Zalaznick Universal Studios Focus Features · Geneon Universal (80.1%)[nu 1] · Illumination Entertainment • United International Pictures[nu 2] · Universal Animation Studios · Universal Pictures · PlayBack · Universal Studios Home Entertainment · Working Title Films Universal Parks & Resorts Universal Studios Dubailand · Universal Studios Hollywood · Universal Orlando Resort (Universal Studios Florida · Islands of Adventure · Universal CityWalk) · Universal Studios Japan · Universal Studios Singapore · Universal Studios South Korea Broadcast TV assets NBC · NBC News · NBC Sports · Telemundo NBCUniversal Cable A+E Networks (15%) · Bravo · Chiller · Cloo · CNBC · E! · G4 (88%) · MSNBC · Mun2 · Oxygen · PBS Kids Sprout (part owner)  · ShopNBC (30%) · Style Network  · Syfy · Telemundo Puerto Rico · Universal HD · USA Network · The Weather Channel[nu 3] · Weatherscan[nu 3] NBC Sports Group Golf Channel · NBC Sports Network · Universal Sports (part owner)[nu 4] · Alli Comcast SportsNet Bay Area (45%)  · California  · Chicago (20%)  · Houston  · Mid-Atlantic  · New England  · Northwest  · Philadelphia  · SNY (8%)  · The Mtn. (50%) · CSS (50%) · Comcast Sports Southwest  · New England Cable News  · Comcast Network CNBC CNBC global channels CNBC · CNBC Africa · CNBC Asia · CNBC Europe · CNBC Latin America · CNBC World CNBC Europe branches Class CNBC (20%) · CNBC Africa · CNBC Arabiya (according to CNBC Europe) · CNBC-e · CNBC Nordic · TVN CNBC CNBC Asia branches CNBC-TV18 · CNBC Australia · CNBC Awaaz · CNBC Hong Kong · CNBC Pakistan · CNBC Singapore · Nikkei CNBC · SBS-CNBC Universal Networks International 13th Street Universal · Diva Universal · KidsCo[nu 5] · Movies 24 · Steel[nu 6] · Studio Universal · Syfy · Universal Channel Syfy global channels Asia · Australia · Benelux · France · Germany · Japan · Latin America · Poland · Portugal · Romania · Russia · Serbia · Slovenia · Spain · UK · US NBCUniversal Television Group NBC Studios · NBCUniversal Television Distribution · Telemundo of Puerto Rico Studios · Telemundo Television Studios · Universal Television NBC O&Os California Nonstop · KNBC · KNSD[nu 7] · KNTV · KXAS[nu 7] (DFW Nonstop) · WCAU (NBC Philadelphia Nonstop)  · WMAQ (Chicago Nonstop) · WNBC (New York Nonstop) · WRC (Washington Nonstop) · WTVJ · WVIT Telemundo O&Os KBLR · KDEN · KEJT-LP · KHRR · KNSO[nu 8] · KSTS · KTAZ · KTMD · KVDA[nu 8] · KVEA · KXTX · WKAQ · WNEU[nu 8] · WNJU · WSCV · WSNS ShopNBC O&Os WWDP Internet ventures: Hulu[nu 9] · iVillage · msnbc.com[nu 10] · Television Without Pity · DailyCandy · Fandango Other assets: EMKA, Ltd. · qubo[nu 11] · WSI Corporation[nu 3]  · International Media Distribution Defunct properties: NBC Weather Plus (2004–2008) · Trio (1997–2005) · Diva TV (2007−2012) · Hallmark Channel International (1997−2011) · Discovery Kids (1996-2010) · Discovery Kids on NBC (2002-2006) · DreamWorks Records (1996-2005) · Go Fish Pictures (2000-2007) See also: Vivendi (former NBCUniversal stockholder and current parent company of Universal Music Group) · Comcast (telecommunications company that holds 51%) · General Electric (conglomerate that holds 49%) · MCA Inc. (legal predecessors of NBCUniversal) ^ Co-owned with Dentsu. ^ 50%, with Viacom's Paramount Pictures. ^ a b c Co-owned with Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. ^ minority share, InterMedia Partners is the majority owner. ^ Co-owned with Corus Entertainment and Cookie Jar Group. ^ Co-owned with Mediaset. ^ a b The stations are co-owned with LIN TV in a joint venture (76% owned by NBC, 24% owned by LIN). ^ a b c The stations are owned by NBCUniversal, but are controlled by ZGS Broadcast Holdings. ^ Co-owned with News Corporation and The Walt Disney Company. ^ Co-owned with Microsoft in a joint venture (50% owned by NBC, 50% owned by Microsoft). ^ Co-owned with Corus Entertainment, Classic Media, Nelvana, Scholastic Books and ION Media Networks.

Sheila Crump Johnson (born 1949) is the team president, managing partner, and governor of the WNBA's Washington Mystics, a position she gained before the 2005 season. On May 24, 2005, Washington Sports and Entertainment Chairman, Abe Pollin, sold the Mystics to Lincoln Holdings LLC, where Johnson served as president. She is the first African-American woman to be an owner or partner in three professional sports franchises: the Washington Capitals (NHL), the Washington Wizards (NBA), and the Washington Mystics (WNBA). Johnson currently serves as CEO of Salamander Hospitality, a company she founded in 2005. Salamander's portfolio includes: The Woodlands Resort & Inn, in Summerville, SC; The Innisbrook Resort and Golf Club, a 900-acre (3.6 km²), 72 hole PGA tour golf course in Palm Harbor, FL; and The Salamander Resort & Spa in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Middleburg, VA. (opening date: Spring 2012).^[1] The Woodlands Resort & Inn was recently sold to Charleston attorney Johnny Linton, but is still managed by Salamander.

Philanthropy[link]

Johnson is a Global Ambassador for CARE, a humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. Sheila's I Am Powerful Challenge raised over $8 million in 2007.^[2] She serves as Chair of the Board of Governors of Parsons The New School for Design in New York and funded the opening of the Sheila C. Johnson Design Center, combining classrooms, public program spaces and galleries.^[3] She sits on the boards of VH1’s Save the Music Foundation,^[4] Americans for the Arts,^[5] the Curry School of Education Foundation at the University of Virginia, and the University of Illinois Foundation. Johnson is also the Ambassador for the Healthy Site Institute, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of Sigma Alpha Iota music fraternity for women.

Film[link]

Johnson's first film, Kicking It, premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT. She served as sole executive producer on her second film, A Powerful Noise, which premiered at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival in New York.^[6]

Personal life[link]

For 33 years from 1969–2002, she was married to Robert L. Johnson. Together they founded the entertainment network BET. They sold the company to Viacom in 1999. They have two children.

In an interview, Sheila Johnson said she herself is "ashamed" of what the BET has become. “I don’t watch it. I suggest to my kids that they don’t watch it," she said. “When we started BET, it was going to be the Ebony magazine on television. We had public affairs programming. We had news... I had a show called Teen Summit, we had a large variety of programming, but the problem is that then the video revolution started up... And then something started happening, and I didn’t like it at all. And I remember during those days we would sit up and watch these videos and decide which ones were going on and which ones were not. We got a lot of backlash from recording artists...and we had to start showing them. I didn’t like the way women were being portrayed in these videos.”^[7]

After her divorce from Robert L. Johnson in 2002, she was estimated to be worth about $670M. In 2009, Forbes magazine estimated her net worth to be $400 million^[8]

On September 24, 2005, she married Arlington County Circuit Court Chief Judge William T. Newman, who presided over her divorce from Robert L. Johnson in 2003.^[9]

Johnson is a Democrat, although in 2009 she endorsed Republican Virginia gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell. In early October 2009, Johnson mocked the stutter of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Creigh Deeds at a rally for McDonnell's campaign. She later apologized. ^[10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• TheLoop21.com's interview with Sheila Johnson