And now it is BET TV, the largest Black-owned and Black directed TV in the nation, that is bought by Viacom for approximately $3 billion; the purchase was made using Viacom Class B Common Stock and the assumption of debt.

BET Holdings, the company that owns BET TV, has other holdings besides BET TV--a $35 million web company, restaurants, soon a lucrative Airline route that was spun off to them, and other operations. Robert Johnson, the founder of BET, will stay on as its CEO.

Viacom, in announcing the reason for this buyout, said that the African American TV market is growing faster than the general market; their ad-directed market is also growing faster than the general market. So they want to get in on this growing market.

This buyout will make Robert L. Johnson the second-largest individual stockholder at Viacom, over Mario Gabelli, but far short of Viacom's founder Sumner Redstone.

BET's web site stated: "Black Entertainment Television, which reaches 62.4 million households in the U.S.; BET on Jazz: The Cable Jazz Channel TM, the country’s only 24-hour network devoted to jazz music and jazz enthusiasts; BET international TM, a hybrid of BET and BET on Jazz programming reaching 14 countries around the world; and BET Books, the leading publisher of African American-themed romance novels under the label of Arabesque Books. The deal will also includes this Web site, BET.com."

There was no mention of the Airline deal, but with this deal, Johnson has more capital to buy DC Air for $141 million, which will be created from assets related to the proposed merger of UAL Corp.'s United and US Airways. It may be that Robert Johnson wants to devote his time to that venture.

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.........Robert L. Johnson . ...... ............ ..............Debra Lee

BET stated that: "Robert L. Johnson, Chairman and majority owner of BET Holdings, and founder of Black Entertainment Television, the first and largest national cable network targeted to African Americans, will remain Chairman and CEO, reporting to Viacom President and Chief Operating Officer Mel Karmazin. Debra Lee, BET President and Chief Operating Officer, also will continue in that role following the completion of the transaction, which is expected to occur early next year."

It was just a few weeks ago that Africana.com was sold to Time Warner/AOL, and Black Voices was infused with millions from General Motors. So who is next? How stable are Ebony, Black Enterprise, etc., in the face of the onslaught of serious capital thrown at companies today?

We will watch to see how Black companies and cultures change in the coming days, weeks, months, and years.[]

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