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We thought we saw it all when Africana.com and Essence were purchased by Time-Warner. We reeled when we knew that NetNoir.com was 25% own by Time-Warner/AOL, BlackFamilies.com (now defunct) was owned by Cox Communications, BlackPlanet.com was owned by Community Connect Inc, and BlackVoices.com was a wholly owned subsidiary of Tribune Broadcasting. Now we have the complete buyout of Black Entertainment Television (BET) by Viacom totally completing the razing of African-American's top media companies.

Grant it that the programming appealed to limited audience, but the revenue generating model designed by Robert L. Johnson, CEO of BET was genuine. Based on figures gathered from a USA article titled "Viacom Considers Paying an Unusually High Price for BET" you can see what it was essentially a no-brainer.

With BET's expected cash revenue of $124 million for 2001 and a standing liability of $570 million, a buy out price of $3 billion dollars more than compensates Johnson for his hard work. Given that he is still tending a deal to buy landing spaces and lease equipment and crews at Reagan National Airport for the creation of DC Air, he should be more than able to pay the $140 to $215 million necessary to seal the deal.

Johnson owns 63% of BET, Liberty Media 35%, and Debra L. Lee, President of BET owns the remaining 2%. In other word, Robert L. Johnson's BET holdings are now worth $1.6 billion dollars.

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BET Facts:

1999 Revenue: $225 million
Current Liabilities: $570 million
Employees: 400

BET Holdings is a very recognizable brand name, reaching 58.5 to 61.0 million cable subscribers. The cable channels include, Black Entertainment Television, BET Action Pay-Per-View, BET on Jazz, BET Movies/Starz, and BET International.

BET Magazines: BET Weekend, Heart and Soul

Other Media: Arabesque Books, BET Arabesque Films, BET Pictures II, and BET.com

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Now watch QBID!

"ALL WE HVE TO DO IS LAUNCH!"