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Netflix Says It Will Let Viacom Deal Expire

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Monday April 22, 2013 @ 2:54pm PDTTags: BET, Big Deals TV, MTV, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Viacom

This news nugget was tucked into Netflix‘s letter to investors that CEO Reed Hastings and CFO David Wells released today: They say that at the end of May they won’t renew their broad deal with Viacom Networks that enables Netflix to carry programming from Nickelodeon, BET and MTV. “We are in discussions with them about licensing particular shows but have yet to conclude a deal,” the execs say. The change reflects Netflix’s effort to “focus on exclusive and curated content” which lessens its willingness to pay for “non-exclusive, bulk content deals.” Hastings and Wells add that “with all the recently added fresh programming from Disney, Cartoon Network, Hasbro’s The Hub and DreamWorks Animation, we have a great kids offering.” Netflix also says that it will try to appeal to large families by offering an $11.99 a month service that enables subscribers to stream up to four shows simultaneously vs the standard $7.99 service which allows two streams. The execs say that they expect “fewer than 1% of members to take it.”

Related:
Netflix CEO Says ‘Hemlock Grove’ Beat ‘House Of Cards’ In Early Viewing
Netflix Shares Soar After It Beats Q1 Earnings Forecasts

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BET Renews ‘The Game’, Officially Picks Up ‘Being Mary Jane’ To Series, Revives ‘ComicView’, Orders T.D. Jakes Talk Show

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 2, 2013 @ 2:00pm PDTTags: Being Mary Jane, BET, ComicView, T.D. Jakes, The Game
Nellie Andreeva

BET NetworksBET today unveiled its slate of new and returning series to advertisers at its upfront presentation in Los Angeles. Mara Brock Akil was front and center as her hit comedy series The Game was renewed for a seventh season, and her newest project, drama Being Mary Jane, originally picked up as a movie, was formally ordered to series. Other new series pitched to advertisers include a revival of standup showcase ComicView after a five-year hiatus, a weekly talk show starring Bishop T.D. Jakes, and Burns BBQ, a reality series produced by Arthur Smith. The network had the attendees on their feet with a performance by Chaka Khan, who sang her anthem Tell Me Something Good. With multiple cable networks, including OWN, looking to tap into the strong and loyal Black TV audiences, BET’s president of original programming Loretha Jones touted BET as being “better connected” to the African-American community than any other network. Here are details about BET and sibling Centric’s new and returning series:

NEW PROGRAMMING ON BET:  

· BEING MARY JANE– From the producers of the award-winning, record breaking BET comedy THE GAME, GIRLFRIENDS and box-office hits JUMPING THE BROOM and SPARKLE comes an original series starring the gorgeous and talented Gabrielle Union. The series is a follow up to the release of the BEING MARY JANE movie of the week slated to launch on BET this summer. Read More »

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BET Renews ‘Real Husbands Of Hollywood’ For Second Season

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday March 8, 2013 @ 9:17am PSTTags: BET, Kevin Hart, The Real Husbands of Hollywood
Nellie Andreeva

BET has ordered a 12-episode second season of semi-scripted comedy Real Husbands Of Hollywood. The series, created by Kevin Hart and Chris Spencer, debuted to more than 4 million viewers in January. Labeled the “fakest … Read More »

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Lionsgate’s Codeblack Films Picks Up Angela Davis Documentary

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday January 30, 2013 @ 5:18am PSTTags: AMC, BET, Codeblack Films, Lionsgate

Codeblack Films has acquired the theatrical rights to the documentary Free Angela and All Political Prisoners. Written and directed by Shola Lynch, the film about Angela Davis premiered at the Toronto Film Festival last year. Free Angela … Read More »

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BET’s New Comedies Top Cable Season Premieres

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday January 16, 2013 @ 2:21pm PSTTags: BET, Second Generation Wayans, The Real Husbands of Hollywood, TV Ratings

BET’s premieres of The Real Husbands Of Hollywood and Second Generation Wayans were cable’s top two originals Tuesday.  But that’s not the only top spots BET garnered from the debuts: With 4.15 million viewers for its 10 PM … Read More »

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BET Hip Hop Awards Down From 2011

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday October 10, 2012 @ 4:54pm PDTTags: BET, Ratings

There was no brawl bounce last night for the BET Hip Hop Awards. Despite the attention a backstage shoving match between rappers Rick Ross and Young Jeezy received last month during the taping of the annual … Read More »

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BET Promotional Stunt Prompts Bomb Scare

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday September 25, 2012 @ 10:55pm PDTTags: BET

Hollywood promotional stunts can be clever. But every so often they backfire. Like this moronic one from BET whose promotional package caused two CBS-owned Los Angeles radio stations to temporarily suspend live local broadcasting. It necessitated the evacuation of their … Read More »

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BET Orders Movie-Backdoor Pilot From Mara Brock Akil & Salim Akil With Diggy Simmons

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday August 20, 2012 @ 4:54pm PDTTags: BET, Big Deals TV, Mara Brock Akil, Salim Akil
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: More than two decades after Will Smith launched his acting career with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, another young rapper is transitioning to scripted comedy with the help of a husband-and-wife writing/producing duo. BET has greenlighted the Untitled Diggy Simmons Project, a two-hour backdoor comedy pilot/original movie starring 17-year-old rapper/blogger Daniel Dwayne Simmons, aka Diggy Simmons, and executive produced by Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, the team behind BET’s hit comedy The Game and upcoming original movie/backdoor pilot Being Mary Jane, which is set to premiere next year as part of the BET Premiere Cinema movie franchise. Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union, is expected to go to series.

The Diggy Simmons project, said to have an Entourage vibe to it, is described as a fresh and edgy look at Diggy Simmons, his life as a blogger, and the close group of loyal friends who hold him down on his rise to the top. Simmons will play the main character Blake. Also cast in the project are Allen Maldonado as Manny, Blake’s best friend. Manny lives with his twin sister Tae (Teyana Taylor), who is Blake’s ex-girlfriend, after their grandmother died. Chris Brew will play Dot, a tech geek, now a student at NYU, and a childhood friend of Blake and Manny. Bria Murphy will play Manny’s girlfriend Nia. Stephanie Charles will play Sheri, Dot’s ex-girlfriend.  Read More »

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Mara Brock Akil’s Hourlong BET Pilot Starring Gabrielle Union Goes To Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday August 8, 2012 @ 9:10am PDTTags: BET, Big Deals TV, Gabrielle Union
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: I hear BET is picking up hourlong pilot Being Mary Jane (formerly Single Black Female) starring Gabrielle Union to series. Written by Mara Brock Akil and directed by Salim Akil, Being Mary Jane centers on successful … Read More »

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BET OKs Keyshia Cole Reality Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday May 2, 2012 @ 9:51am PDTTags: BET
Nellie Andreeva

Keyshia Cole: Family First BET SeriesKeyshia Cole is back on BET with a new docu-reality series. Cole, star of the 2006 BET unscripted show Keyshia Cole: The Way It Is, will topline Keyshia Cole: Family First (working title), a … Read More »

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BET Orders New Series, Including Comedy With Craig And Damien Wayans, Renews ‘The Game’, ‘Let’s Stay Together’ & ‘Reed’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday April 12, 2012 @ 1:00pm PDTTags: BET, Let's Stay Together, The Game
Nellie Andreeva

A slew of programming announcements out of BET’s upfront presentation, which is going on right now Los Angeles. The network has greenlighted three new primetime series, including comedies Second Generation Wayans, co-written by and starring Craig and Damien Wayans, nephews … Read More »

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BET Renews Comedy Series ‘The Game’ And ‘Let’s Stay Together’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Tuesday April 10, 2012 @ 2:12pm PDTTags: BET, Let's Stay Together, Reed Between the Lines, The Game
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: I hear that BET has quietly renewed its flagship comedy series The Game for a sixth season (third on the cable network), and the Queen Latifah-produced sophomore Let’s Stay Together for a third. The pickups, which I hear are … Read More »

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BET Preps ‘Young Man On Campus’ Pilot

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday April 2, 2012 @ 1:53pm PDTTags: BET
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: BET has assembled the cast of Y.M.O.C. aka Young Man On Campus, a comedy pilot starring Jacob Latimore as a 15-year-old college prodigy Jacob Matthews who is the youngest … Read More »

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Gabrielle Union To Star In Mara Brock Akil’s BET Comedy Pilot ‘Single Black Female’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday March 2, 2012 @ 3:39pm PSTTags: BET, Gabrielle Union, Single Black Female
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Gabrielle Union has been tapped for the lead in Single Black Female, BET’s hourlong pilot from Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, the husband-and-wife duo behind the cable network’s hit comedy series The Game. Written by The Game creator … Read More »

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BET Greenlights ‘Single Black Female’ Pilot From Mara Brock Akil And Salim Akil

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday February 13, 2012 @ 5:00am PSTTags: BET, Mara Brock Akil, Single Black Female
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that BET has given a pilot order to Single Black Female, an hourlong project from Mara Brock Akil and Salim Akil, the husband-and-wife duo behind the cable network’s hit comedy series The Game. The Game creator/executive producer … Read More »

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BET Looking To Revive ‘Showtime At The Apollo’ With Jamie Foxx & Don Weiner

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Monday May 16, 2011 @ 12:10pm PDTTags: BET, Jamie Foxx
Nellie Andreeva

EXCLUSIVE: Long-running syndication variety show Showtime At the Apollo is staging a comeback, this time on BET. The cable network is finalizing a deal for a pilot order to a Showtime at the Apollo revival executive produced by Jamie Foxx … Read More »

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BET Inks Deal With Salim & Mara Brock Akil

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 12, 2011 @ 7:04am PDTTags: BET, Mara Brock Akil
Nellie Andreeva

BET has signed a multi-year deal with The Game creator/executive producer Mara Brock Akil and director/executive producer Salim Akil. Under the pact, they will continue their services on the hit series, which has been renewed for a fifth season, in addition to developing new shows through Akil Prods. with a … Read More »

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It’s Official: BET Renews ‘The Game,’ ‘Let’s Stay Together,’ Picks Up ‘Reed Between The Lines’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday April 20, 2011 @ 9:40am PDTTags: BET, Let's Stay Together, Reed Between the Lines, The Game, Upfront

BET Networks is set to unveil its full lineup, which we told you about over the weekend, during its upfront presentation today in New York. Here’s the network’s release in advance of the event:

NEW YORK – April 20, 2011 – Coming off of the success of its best

… Read More »

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BET Renews ‘The Game’ & ‘Together,’ Picks Up ‘Reed Between The Lines’ To Series

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday April 17, 2011 @ 11:57pm PDTTags: BET, Let's Stay Together, Reed Between the Lines, The Game
Nellie Andreeva

No surprise here — I hear BET has quietly renewed its blockbuster comedy series The Game for a fifth season. The cable network may hold the official announcement until its upfront presentation … Read More »

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