No longer will Paramount Global sell its controlling interest in the BET Media Group.
The business includes VH1 and BET Studios, streamer BET+, and the BET channel. According to The Wall Street Journal, the firm stated Wednesday that it would halt the bidding process for the unit because "a sale wouldn't result in any meaningful deleveraging of its balance sheet, the people said." There were offers for Paramount Global that ranged from about $2 billion to $3 billion.
Sean "Diddy" Combs, along with other media moguls Tyler Perry and Byron Allen, reportedly expressed interest in the majority ownership in the network in March, according to Variety.
Between 2002 and 2009, Combs produced three episodes of MTV's "Making the Band" while employed by Paramount Global. Already the owner of the network Revolt, which presently reaches around 80 million households, is the rapper, record producer, and businessman.
Currently holding a minority investment in BET, Tyler Perry also produces a significant amount of the content seen on BET and BET+, the latter of which he assisted with the debut in 2019.
In the interim, Allen paid $11 million for the Black News Channel, and his production business Allen Media Group spent more than $1 billion over the previous three years to buy 27 NBC, ABC, CBS, and Fox affiliates.
Source: Variety.