Bob Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), explains how MTV's early exclusion of Black artists enabled BET to secure free music video programming.
Disclosure
Bob Johnson: BET's pitch was adapted directly from an elderly channel proposal
“But I had his information, so when I started BET, I said, black people have certain spending patterns. Black people have certain shopping patterns. I just, wherever he had elderly, I just filled in black. And I just went in and took his model, and out of that …”
What-if
Johnson would have accepted 20 percent equity to secure Malone's capital
“What Malone didn't know at the time, if he had reversed the numbers and said, I'll be 80, and Bob, you'll be 20, I said, John, that's a deal.”
Insight
Johnson: BET Made Double Revenue on Zero-Cost Video Content
“All you got to do is come up with a business where you get free music videos, cable operators pay you, and advertisers pay you, so you get paid twice for nothing.”
Disclosure
Johnson pressured reluctant corporate advertisers by threatening to alert Jesse Jackson
“I'd say within about two inches of threatening them, you know, and that if you don't do this, I'm gonna tell Jesse Jackson that you're not advertising, stuff like that.”
Insight
Johnson: BET faced criticism because it was the only Black network
“When you start a business, it was the preconceived notion that your business existed to further the collective, the goal of African Americans, so if you were doing something that they felt didn't do it, say if you weren't doing black educational television, Yo…”
Assertion Supported
Former BET CEO Debra Lee was picketed at home over music videos
“In fact, the, my successor Deborah Lee, she was picketed for a period of almost four months outside of our house with people with bullhorns You know, taunting her because she was running BET that played music video.”