BET AWARDS '11 is the #1 Awards Show on Cable, Drawing 7.7 Million Total Viewers

NEW YORK, June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The live premiere of the BET AWARDS '11  on Sunday, June 26, drew 7.7 Million total viewers, making it the #1 Awards Show in Cable this year and the #2 telecast in BET history behind the BET AWARDS '09 honoring Michael Jackson (June 29, 2009) (NMR, Live + Same Day, 6/27). In addition, the BET AWARDS has consistently ranked among the Top 5 Cable Awards Shows every year among total viewers. The Coca-Cola Viewers' Choice Award, which was given to Chris Brown, received more than 2.4 Million votes by mobile text and online voting, which was a 240% increase versus 2010. This year's show, which aired from 8:00-11:30 p.m.,* featured performances and appearances by Justin Bieber, Hosea Chanchez, Diddy-Dirty Money, Drake, Pooch Hall, Steve Harvey, Taraji P. Henson, Alicia Keys, Gladys Knight, Patti LaBelle, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, Tracee Ellis Ross, Malcolm Jamal Warner and Kerry Washington. In addition, the BET AWARDS '11 RED CARPET SHOW drew in 2.7 million total viewers, while the BET AWARDS '11 POST SHOW, garnered 3.9 million total viewers.

(Logo:  http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20070716/BETNETWORKSLOGO )

The FANdemonium award voting set an all-time record number of text and app votes with more than 2M text votes (up 86% from 2010) and more than 11 million votes from the 106 & Park App.

The live telecast dominated the social media and digital world as well:

• 7.5 million tweets regarding the BET AWARDS occurred throughout the BET AWARDS '11 weekend (June 26-27, 2011),
• 2.5 million tweets occurred during the live BET AWARDS '11 telecast,
• #BET AWARDS averaged 11,500 tweets-per-minute during the live telecast, peaking at nearly 21,000 tweets per minute at 11:05 p.m.,*
• #BETAWARDS PRESHOW trended at #1 worldwide in the hour preceding the beginning of the main show,
• #BETFORDFOCUS was the #1 trending topic within minutes after LaLa Anthony announced the secret hashtag on-air (8:18pm ET) and
• BET Mobile experienced an all-time one day record of 1.15MM page views on Sunday, June 26 up 60% from 2010.

Encore telecasts of the BET AWARDS '11 are set for:

• Tuesday, June 28 at 7:00 p.m.*
• Thursday, June 30 at 7:30 p.m.*
• Monday, July 4 at 8:00 p.m.*

BET once again teamed with John Cossette Productions, the famed producers of the GRAMMY Awards® and the eight record-setting BET AWARDS shows, to handle production of the telecast. Stephen Hill, President, Music Programming and Specials, BET Networks, along with Lynne Harris-Taylor, Vice President of Specials, BET Networks, were executive producers of the telecast.

BET AWARDS '11 was sponsored by Coca-Cola, Domino's, Ford, Macy's, My Black Is Beautiful, Sprint, Starbucks and Subway.

For a list of winners from the BET AWARDS '11, please visit www.bet.com/betawards. Get up-to-the-minute reactions about the BET AWARDS '11 by following @BET AWARDS on Twitter (www.twitter.com).

*All times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

CONTACT:
Kimberlee Bradshaw
212-205-3154
[email protected]

SOURCE BET Networks