BET Networks Launches Home Entertainment Division

HOLLYWOOD, May 25: BET Networks, a division of Viacom, has partnered with Paramount Home Entertainment for the launch of a home entertainment division—BET Home Entertainment.

Paramount Home Entertainment will distribute BET original television programming, made-for-DVD titles and acquired content on a worldwide basis. Through this partnership, direct-to-DVD content, including scripted comedy, drama and animation, will also be developed. The division will be led by Constance Cribbs Knight.

The first title released under the distribution agreement was the DVD of Celebration Of Gospel: Taking You Higher, which debuted earlier this month. The program premiered in January on BET and drew a record-breaking 2.5 million viewers, making it the number-one religious/gospel program in television history. Among the other titles slated for release this year are some of BET’s most popular programs, including the reality series College Hill, which is currently in its fourth season on the network, and the documentary series American Gangster, which chronicles the lives of some of black America’s most notorious crime figures.

Cribbs Knight joins BET Networks from Buena Vista Home Entertainment, where she oversaw the creation of marketing materials, promotions and content programming for the Disney Movie Club. Prior to that, she worked at New Line Home Entertainment, where she managed the marketing budget and developed effective tactics and programs to create demand for the network.