Diddy Third Celebrity To Express Interest In Acquiring BET

Diddy is said to have expressed some interest in buying Black Entertainment Television. He will have to get in line though.

If this purchase goes through Diddy will own BET, BET+, VH1, and BET Studios. A source close to Diddy according to The Jasmine Brand says Diddy is ready to make a move and is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse.”

The company is restructuring with Paramount so they will also be in the conversation when or if a deal actually does go down.

Diddy hasn’t had that sit down conversation with the executives yet but, he’s Diddy so we can imagine it will be no problem to get his foot in the door or have his name dropped in the room. It was also noted by the source that Paramount isn’t in conversation with anyone at the moment.

At the beginning of the month, Tyler Perry shared that he was interested in buying the BET conglomerate but hadn’t mentioned anything since then about moving forward or where he was in the process. The Wallstreet Journal said that Perry had a “deal to create shows for Paramount and also has a minority stake in Paramount’s BET+ streaming service.”

The other person expressing serious interest is media mogul Byron Allen. He is a comedian and producer. He also owns his own media company called Entertainment Studios (Allen Media Group).

A spokesperson for Allen Media Group released a statement that detailed Allen’s interest and his intentions moving forward. “Byron Allen is interested in buying BET, and he will be pursuing the acquisition of the network.”

Perry has a big stake in this deal. The mogul already has a deal with Paramount to create shows and he has the majority stake in Paramount’s BET+ streaming entities. This huge deal could potentially boast sales and filter views to their struggling Pluto TV platform.

While it’s Pluto TV is free, it has a lot of ads and not much worth watching. Paramount also owns CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and Paramount Pictures. The company is attempting to build its brand to compete with streaming heavyweights like Netflix and Disney+.

Paramount has just over 56 million subscribers to Paramount+ and on their smaller platforms, they have about another 21.4 million subscribers via Showtime and BET+.

Fans of the network are hoping to see it exchange hands to be black-owned once again. “I hope Tyler gets it. He has helped BET survive. Byron has a few networks already and Diddy has Revolt,” wrote one follower rooting for Perry.

“Tyler, Byron, and Diddy should all partner and buy it together,” suggested one person but will those personalities match? The consensus seems to be leaning towards Perry who already has a proven track record of making hit TV shows for the BET audience.

No shade to Diddy but Revolt’s focus is mainly non-scripted series and reruns of sitcoms, fans are asking if he has the knowledge to pull off a successful transition for BET.