Paramount Enters Exclusive Talks to Sell BET to Channel’s Current CEO
After more than a year of keeping BET Media Group on the market, it appears Paramount Global may be ready to sell.
The powers that be at Paramount Global are searching for savings everywhere, these days. The company wants to cut as much as $500 million from its balance sheet as it tries to plan its next steps, and one of the options available to it is to divest itself of assets like its linear TV channels. A new report from Bloomberg indicates that sale talks surrounding BET have begun again, as the channel’s current CEO Scott Mills has rekindled his interest in owning the channel.
Key Details:
- Mills is partnering with CC Capital to try and acquire BET.
- An offer of around $1.7 billion has been extended for the channel.
- Media mogul Byron Allen and BET co-owner Tyler Perry have had interest in the past, but have seemingly dropped out of the process.
BET has been up for sale for more than a year, and while multiple parties have shown interest, none has followed through. Mills first entered the picture in December, when he partnered with the private equity firm CC Capital and its head Chinh Chu to engage with Paramount about buying the channel.
In the intervening months, Paramount has met with several other companies and individuals about selling control of the entire company. But its most promising offer died in early June when talks with Skydance Media faltered, and the chances that Paramount will have to continue on as an independent company are much higher. That’s leading its three-man “Office of the CEO” to look for ways to save money, and selling one of its cable channels would certainly qualify.
Mills and Chu have been discussing an offer of $1.6 to $1.7 billion for BET, according to Bloomberg. It’s not clear if the bid would include all the assets in BET Media Group, which also includes BET+ and VH1. Billionaire media mogul Byron Allen bid $3.5 billion for BET Media Group in December, but there are doubts as to just how serious his pursuit was.
Selling BET would not only net Paramount Global some quick cash, but it would also mean the company is no longer responsible for trying to prop up revenues on the channel. Paramount is stuck in the same position that many other legacy media companies currently are in; ad revenues are dropping as cable loses viewers, and distributors are demanding larger and larger carriage fees in order to make up for waning subscription revenues.
The company is also exploring options for combining its streamer Paramount+ with another company’s on-demand platform in order to create cost synergies. Selling other channels like CBS could be an option for Paramount as well.
A recent survey from Solutions Research Group found that BET is the cable channel Black viewers are most likely to rate as a “Must Keep,” so despite the declines of cable overall, the channel clearly has a good deal of value to the right buyer.
Multihyphenate BET investor Tyler Perry has also shown interest in BET in the past, but his final bid reportedly came up well short of Paramount’s asking price. Perry has spoken out about the process since, calling it “disrespectful” and suggesting that Paramount wanted much more than BET was worth for the channel.
BET+
BET+ is an online streaming service from BET Networks, launched as a joint venture with Tyler Perry Studios. As one of the largest online subscription video-on-demand services focused on the Black audience and lovers of Black culture, BET+ features more than 1,000 hours of premium content including new, exclusive programming, iconic TV series, movie favorites, as well as documentaries, and specials from BET Networks. BET+ offers original programming from Tyler Perry, including his plays, series, and box office hits.