The numbers are in and the 2024 BET Awards were a hit.
The audience rose to 3 million viewers across 10 Paramount-owned networks, including BET, Logo, Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Nickelodeon at Nite.
According to Nielsen figures provided by BET, that marked a 10 percent jump from last year’s telecast, which had a viewership of 2.8 million.
The 2024 awards were also the #1 program on cable this year among the advertiser coveted 18-49 demo, marking the show’s best demo rating in five years.
The awards aired on Sunday, June 30 from the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.
The ceremony saw Usher receive the lifetime achievement award, following a tribute performance by Childish Gambino, Keke Palmer, Summer Walker, Coco Jones, Marsha Ambrosius, Chlöe, Tinashe, Teyana Taylor, Victoria Monét and Latto, as previously reported.
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Will Smith performed his inspirational new single, “You Can Make It,” about overcoming obstacles and received a standing ovation.
Taraji P. Henson hosted the ceremony, which also included performances by Megan Thee Stallion, and Lauryn Hill who brought out her Fugees bandmade Wyclef Jean to close the show with their hit 1995 single “Fu-Gee-La.”
The uptick in viewers bodes well for BET. As UrbanHollywood411 reported last week, parent company Paramount Global is “in talks” to sell the cable network for somewhere in the $1.6 billion to $1.7 billion range.
In March 2023, Paramount began talks to sell a majority stake in BET Media Group, which counts BET, BET+, BET Her, BET Digital, BET Studios (the production arm of BET), and VH1 among its properties.
Tyler Perry, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Byron Allen were all in the running to purchase the company. Allen was said to have bid $3.5 billion, while stressing BET should be Black-owned. But in August 2023, Paramount notified potential buyers that it wanted to shelve the sale.
