Black Entertainment Television (BET)

by Danny Martinez

This network was the first successful network for hip-hop. BET has come from nothing and become one of the biggest networks on TV today. Hip-hop is now the #1 choice for music, and BET has helped it out a lot. BET plays hip-hop videos on most of their shows and it also plays black movies that wouldn't be seen on any other channel on TV. BET really gets everyone together. It's just not black people that watch BET; it is very diverse. BET is now so noticeable that they have their own award show and their own news show. I remember a few years ago when they hardly had any good shows and it looked so unorganized. But now every show is fun and entertaining.

Their most popular shows would be "Rap City The Basement" and "106 and Park." "Rap City" is a show with a man in his basement showing the hottest new songs and also telling news about music and what's going on in the hip-hop community. He has also has guest rap artists like Jay Z, DMX, and Ja Rule, and they do freestyle together on the show. "106 and Park" is a show that countdowns the top 10 videos of the week. It's just like any other countdown but it seems like it entertains me better because of the countdown host who interacts with the audience and just looks like some normal people.

BET has grown so much from a low budget network to one of the top ones on television. BET has been a big part of my life. This network helps me stay calm on sad days and makes me laugh when I'm angry. BET expresses my self, my flavor, my love, and my style. I'm really from the city and this is the only network that expresses me. I love hip-hop music and the way they give back to the community by forming basketball leagues and giving money back to the Boys and Girls club and also public schools. The way they wear their clothes is similar to myself and this is the style of the present. You can't compare BET to any other network because they just have programs there that I love. Such as hip-hop and R&B they are not played a lot in any network. MTV usually has a lot of pop music and I don't really care for that.