BET

=== Early years ===
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After stepping down as a lobbyist for the cable industry, [[Freeport, Illinois|Freeport]], [[Illinois]] native [[Robert L. Johnson]] decided to launch his own [[cable television]] network. Johnson acquired a loan for $15,000 (equivalent to $55,648 in 2023) and a $500,000 (equivalent to $1,854,921 in 2023) investment from media executive [[John Malone]] to start the network.<ref name="Market Nobody Wanted">{{Cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Robert|last2=Dumaine|first2=Brian|title=The Market Nobody Wanted|url=https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/fsb_archive/2002/10/01/330571/index.htm|work=Fortune Small Business|date=2002-10-01|access-date=2008-09-08}}</ref> The network, which was named Black Entertainment Television (BET), launched on January 25, 1980.<ref name="Corporate Fact Sheet">{{cite web |title=Corporate Fact Sheet |url=http://bet.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=45 |publisher=BET Networks |access-date=2008-09-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080912162009/http://bet.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=45 |archive-date=September 12, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[Cheryl D. Miller]] designed the logo that would represent the network, which featured a star to symbolize "Black Star Power".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Schneider|first=Michael|date=2021-06-28|title=BET Launches New Logo, Branding Effort in Time for BET Awards|url=https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/bet-awards-logo-branding-1235006359/|url-status=live|access-date=2021-07-01|website=Variety|language=en-US|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628000216/https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/bet-awards-logo-branding-1235006359/ |archive-date=June 28, 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=November 16, 2015|title=Cheryl D. Miller's Design Journey|url=https://www.aiga.org/diversity-inclusion-design-journeys-essay-cheryl-d-miller|access-date=2020-06-23|website=AIGA {{!}} the professional association for design}}</ref>

Initially, broadcasting for two hours a week as a block of programming on the Madison Square Garden Sports Network (which would change their name to [[USA Network]] three months after BET launched),<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6uQo0R2cUL0C&q=BET+on+USA+Network&pg=PA44|title=The Billion Dollar BET: Robert Johnson and the Inside Story of Black Entertainment Television|last=Pulley|first=Brett|date=2005-10-05|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780471735977|language=en}}</ref> the network's lineup was composed of [[music videos]] and reruns of popular [[black sitcom]]s.<ref name="Market Nobody Wanted" />

It would not be until 1983 that BET became a full-fledged entity, independent of any other channel or programming block, though for years it continued to share channel space with other cable networks on local cable systems due to lack of channel room for their 24-hour schedule until the time of [[digital cable]] allowed for larger channel capacity.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} In some markets, the network would not arrive at all until as late as the early 2010s and Paramount considered it compulsory in [[retransmission consent]] negotiations to carry the BET Networks with Paramount networks, due to some providers claiming that there was an overall lack of demand for the channel, or there was a low to non-existent black American population within their service area.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

BET launched a news program, ''BET News'', in 1986, with  Paul Berry as its first anchor. Berry was also a local anchor at WJLA-TV in Washington, DC at that time. Ed Gordon became anchor in 1988. Gordon later hosted other programs and specials on BET, such as ''For Black Men Only: The Aftermath'', related to the [[1992 Los Angeles riots]], and a recurring interview show, ''Conversations with Ed Gordon''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Johnson|first=Anne Janette|title= Gordon, Ed 1960 – |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2871200026.html|work=Contemporary Black Biography|year=1996|access-date=July 2, 2010}}</ref> In 1996, the talk show ''BET Tonight'' started with [[Tavis Smiley]] as host; in 2001, Ed Gordon replaced Smiley as host of the program.

In 1991, the network became the first black-controlled television company to be listed on the [[New York Stock Exchange]].<ref name="Market Nobody Wanted"/> Starting the late 1990s, the network expanded with the launch of [[digital cable]] networks: what is now the general interest channel [[BET Her]] was initially launched as "BET on Jazz" (later known as "BET Jazz", "BET J", and "Centric"), created initially to showcase jazz music-related programming, especially that of black American jazz musicians. In 1997, BET entered into a [[joint venture]] with [[Starz (TV channel)|Starz]] (then-owned by John Malone's [[Liberty Media]], but later acquired by Lionsgate years later) to launch a multiplex service of the [[pay television|premium channel]] featuring black American-oriented films called "BET Movies: Starz! 3" (later renamed "Black Starz" after BET dropped out of the venture following its purchase by Viacom, then-owner of Starz rival [[Showtime (TV channel)|Showtime]], and now known as "Starz InBlack").