Variety has confirmed reports that Sean Combs has joined fellow media personalities, Tyler Perry and Byron Allen in the race to purchase a majority stake of Black Entertainment Television, best known as BET. According to Variety, BET Media Group’s owner, Paramount Global is exploring a sale of the asset.
Run by CEO Scott Mills, BET Media Group includes BET, BET+, VH1 (which was moved under the group in a restructuring at Paramount last November) and BET’s production arm, BET Studios.
A source close to Combs tells Variety that the music mogul and record executive turned multi-industry entrepreneur is “exploring the opportunity to purchase BET as a part of his strategy to build a Black-owned global media powerhouse.
Another source familiar with the situation tells Variety, that while Combs has expressed interest in acquiring BET, he is not yet considered to be in talks with Paramount to purchase a majority stake. In fact, that insider says that Paramount is not yet in talks with anyone at this point in the process, but that many parties have expressed interest
Diddy already owns Revolt which he started in 2013. The network is rooted in the hip-hop culture and has developed into a multimedia company which produces linear and digital long-form series and multi-platform short-form programming. Revolt reaches approximately 80 million households, with its digital reach even greater.
