Who owns BET?
BET is owned by Paramount Skydance (the United States, NASDAQ: PSKY), which has owned the brand since 23 January 2001.[1]
Evidence: Paramount Skydance Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-25, SEC EDGAR, 25 February 2026. Verified from filings; last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- Paramount Skydance Corporation verified
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇺🇸 United States, Los Angeles, California
- Origin
- 🇺🇸 United States, Washington, D.C.
- Founded
- 1980
- Category
- Media & entertainment › Film & television › Television networks
- Parent ticker
- NASDAQ: PSKY
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About BET
BET was founded in 1980 as the first American television network aimed at a Black audience, and its founder became the first Black billionaire when it was sold to Viacom in 2001 for about $3 billion. Its founder Robert Johnson later sold the network and bought a basketball team, and the channel continues to run the BET Awards, one of the largest annual showcases of Black music and film.
What Paramount Skydance's annual report says about BET
Sentences about BET from Paramount Skydance's latest annual filing[1], copied word for word.
BET Media Group provides premium entertainment, music, news, digital and public affairs content for Black audiences.
BET Media Group serves as a destination for Black expression as well as a gathering place for Black creators, talent and communities.
BET Media Group's multiplatform extensions include BET's events and experiences business (including the BET Awards ) and VH1, a multicultural pop culture destination.
How often Paramount Skydance names BET in its annual report
A plain count of the times the name appears in the text of each annual report, not counting the start of a sentence. A brand that an owner writes about more is usually one it treats as central.
| Annual report filed | Times BET is named |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 11 |
Ownership timeline of BET
- 2001 – present Paramount Skydance [1] verified
Where BET sits in Paramount Skydance
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full Paramount Skydance ownership tree →
See the full Paramount Skydance brand portfolio (8) →
Other brands owned by Paramount Skydance
Paramount Skydance controls 8 brands on Brandtree, 7 of them in media & entertainment.
Also in media & entertainment
- CBS (1927)
- Comedy Central (1991)
- MTV (1981)
- Nickelodeon (1977)
- Paramount Pictures (1912)
- Showtime (1976)
Other brands in television networks, and who owns them
The 87 brands in television networks on Brandtree belong to 28 owners. The largest is Sun TV Network, with 7; Paramount Skydance has 6.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| Gemini TV | Sun TV Network | 🇮🇳 India |
| Global Television | Corus | 🇨🇦 Canada |
| Bounce (Scripps network) | Scripps | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Cartoon Network | Warner Bros. Discovery | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Canal+ | Canal+ | 🇫🇷 France |
| AMC | AMC Networks | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Astro | Astro | 🇲🇾 Malaysia |
| Mnet | CJ ENM | 🇰🇷 South Korea |
About the owner: Paramount Skydance
Paramount Skydance is a publicly listed company headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States, founded in 1912. Brandtree records 8 brands under its control, and it is listed as NASDAQ: PSKY.
Paramount Skydance was formed in 2025 when David Ellison's Skydance Media merged with Paramount Global, ending the Redstone family's control of CBS and Paramount. The company holds one of the oldest studios in Hollywood alongside a large cable network portfolio in long-term decline.
Paramount Skydance: full profile, brands and acquisition history →
🇺🇸 BET and other American brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 2,549 brands that began in the United States. 478 of them (19%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country; BET is not one of them.
- 20th Century Studios — Disney 🇺🇸
- AMC — AMC Networks 🇺🇸
- AMC Theatres — AMC Theatres 🇺🇸
- AMF — Lucky Strike Entertainment 🇺🇸
- Adventure Island — United Parks 🇺🇸
- Antenna TV — Nexstar 🇺🇸
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of BET?
The parent company of BET is Paramount Skydance, a publicly listed company headquartered in the United States.
Is BET American?
Yes. BET originated in the United States in 1980 and its owner, Paramount Skydance, is also headquartered in the United States.
Since when has Paramount Skydance owned BET?
Paramount Skydance has owned BET since 23 January 2001.
Is BET still owned by Paramount Skydance?
Yes. As of 10 October 2026, BET is still owned by Paramount Skydance. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] Paramount Skydance Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K filed 2026-02-25 — SEC EDGAR, SEC Form 10-K, published 25 February 2026; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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