Paramount Rejects Tyler Perry’s $2 Billion Bid To Purchase BET

By Edem Latsu Nukafu

Super-talented thespian Tyler Perry‘s ambition to be the new boss of Black Entertainment Television (BET) has hit a pitfall as he’s now found out that his offer wasn’t anywhere close to what the network’s current owners were expecting.

According to the New York Post, Paramount — the media colossus that holds the classic Black network, along with Nickelodeon, MTV, VH1, and other channels — rejected Mr Perry’s offer of $ 2 billion, particularly since Paramount made it obvious that the commencement auction bid was $3billion.

Despite earlier encouraging to proceed with the deal, Paramount formally declared openly its revocation on Wednesday, August 16.

“We made this decision because the benefits of maintaining a majority stake in BET Media Group creates more value for Paramount than any of the proposals we received,” a source tight to Paramount informed the medium.

While Paramount asserted that it wished to give back the ownership of BET to a Black man or woman and felt that Perry would be a “good steward” to preside over the operation, the conclusive explanation boiled down to an issue of the dollar bag.

Tyler Perry preferably voiced interest in buying the Black-focused showbiz network back in March, though associate media magnate Byron Allen of Allen Media Group has also communicated interest in the deal.

The Madea movie creator already possesses a minority stake in the operation, of which VH1 also comes down under the umbrella of, BET+ and BET Studios. He also has a long-standing affinity with the network, which may offer him an edge over Allen.

The Wall Street Journal reported that BET is being auctioned in a step to inject additional resources into Paramount+ and Pluto TV.

Tyler Perry already has his own state-of-the-art ultramodern film studio in Atlanta, so real estate for the possible purchase would have been a snap. The structure opened after a reconstruction in 2019 with 12 sound stages and 60,000 square feet, which is roughly five times the size of his one-time studio installation in Atlanta.

There’s no word on what the level will be of programmes currently on BET’s slate once the deal goes through, regardless of who eventually ends up owning the channel.
Mary J. Blige recently unveiled her talk show ‘The Wine Down’ as part of a new deal with the channel, where the vocalist has “raw, provocative, insightful and real” conversations with “the hottest, most outspoken” superstars in their respective terrain over wine.

The programme is a facet of a first-look non-scripted deal between the network and Blige’s Blue Butterfly media firm that was established in 2019. And the guests may be consuming Mary’s Sun Goddess wine, which she founded with Italian winemaker Marco Fantinel in 2020.