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A Pivotal Shift at BET
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Lee's ambitions aren't confined to the small screen. She said BET will likely delve deeper into the moviemaking business by starting its own production company. BET recently invested in and promoted "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," which opened No. 1 at the box office and grossed $22.7 million in its opening weekend. "We've shown we can help open a movie," she said.
Many of these initiatives will require the backing of senior management at Viacom, which bought BET from Johnson for $3 billion in 2000. In fact, Ken Smikle, president of Chicago-based research firm Target Market News, said BET's corporate parent will have to play at least as big a role in BET's transformation as Lee. "The pressure is on Viacom now to do all of those things they said they would do to enhance BET as a full-fledged, branded network," he said.
Potentially complicating Lee's plans for BET in the near-term is Viacom's plan to split up the company, separating its fast-growing cable TV and movie holdings from its slower-growing CBS television network and its Infinity radio stations. If the split occurs, BET will most likely be grouped with MTV Networks and Paramount Pictures. Lee said she has received personal assurances from Viacom co-president Tom Freston that it will be "business as usual" at BET.
Lee, who lives in the District with her two children, said there is one change already: Her phone rings more often now.
"People do pick up the phone and call me. Before they only called if they couldn't get a hold of Bob," she joked.
Otherwise, life hasn't changed since last Wednesday. In recent years, Johnson has been focused on other pursuits, including his professional basketball franchise, the Charlotte Bobcats, and investing in hotels and financial service companies. He said he is also looking to buy a bank in Washington. He said after he retires he will continue to live in Washington and work out of an office in an adjacent suburb.
Johnson will remain BET's chairman until January, when Lee will become chairman as well as chief executive. That is when she expects to notice a difference as she is thrust more into the spotlight.
"It will be a lot more attention focused on me personally," she said. "BET is an iconic brand, especially in the African American community. And it's important who leads these companies."
