American actor, filmmaker, playwright, and entrepreneur, Tyler Perry is in talks to purchase a majority stake of BET Media Group amid reports that parent company Paramount Global is exploring a sale of the asset.
Multiple reports suggest that the discussions are still in the early stages, and there is no guarantee of any transaction taking place.
Perry currently owns a minority stake in the operation run by CEO Scott Mills, which includes cablers BET and VH1, and also produces a large portion of the programming available on BET and streamer BET+, which he helped launch in 2019.
Perry and BET have a long history, as the network helped fund his first feature, 2005’s “Diary of a Mad Black Woman.” In 2017, Perry endeavoured on a long-term film deal with Paramount, with a TV deal that began in May 2020.
The partnership has been a lucrative and successful endeavour for Perry, Paramount Global president and CEO Bob Bakish and BET Networks president Scott Mills.
According to The Wall Street Journal, which first reported in an article published Monday, “The decision to consider selling a majority stake of the assets, which cater primarily to Black audiences, is part of the entertainment giant’s effort to shore up resources to bolster its flagship Paramount+ streaming service and its advertiser-supported free streaming platform Pluto TV, some of the people said.”
