 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Broadcast area | Nationwide |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
| Programming | |
| Language(s) | English |
| Picture format | 480i (SDTV) |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Paramount Skydance Corporation |
| Parent | BET Media Group (CBS Entertainment Group) |
| Sister channels | List
|
| History | |
| Launched | August 1, 1998 |
| Replaced by | VH1 Soul |
| Former names | VH1 Soul (1998-2015) |
| Links | |
| Website | BET Soul[dead link] |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Service(s) | FuboTV |
BET Soul (formerly VH1 Soul) is an American pay television network that first launched on August 1, 1998, and is currently owned by Paramount Skydance Corporation's BET Media Group. The channel showcases Caribbean, African, R&B, funk, soul, neo soul, hip hop, jazz and Motown music in various decades from the 1970s to the 2020s.
Soul was originally a commercial-free service, along with sister channel VH1 Smooth, and part of the "MTV Digital Suite" of digital cable channels (which was sold only to cable providers to give them an advantage over satellite services). The first video shown on the channel was "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire.[1]
On December 28, 2015 (after MTV Jams' rebrand as BET Jams), VH1 Soul transferred to BET Networks and subsequently rebranded as BET Soul, becoming a sister channel to BET (the network itself removed music videos after the end of 106 & Park the prior year).[2] The move was part of a series of programming and management shifts within then-parent company Viacom.[3] In 2019, the legacy assets of Viacom and CBS Corporation reunited in a merger between the two companies that formed ViacomCBS (later rebranded as Paramount Global, and now Paramount Skydance Corporation, following the acquisition of Paramount by Skydance Media).
On November 9, 2022, oversight of VH1 would transfer to BET Media Group. The move reunited two networks, while also splitting them from MTV and its other formerly-branded sibling channels (VH1 Classic and VH1 Country).[4]
References
[edit]- ^ Hay, Carla (August 22, 1998). "MuchMusic Readies Awards, Spinoff Channel; MTV's Suite Set". Vol. 110, no. 34. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 85. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
- ^ Chapman Jr., George (28 December 2015). "VH1 Soul to Become BET Soul The 24-hour music video channel to make big switch today". BET Networks. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
- ^ Lieberman, David (February 9, 2017). "Viacom CEO Supports Paramount And Non-Core Networks – But For How Long?". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (2022-11-09). "VH1 Shifts From Paramount Media Networks To BET Media Group Under Scott Mills". Deadline. Retrieved 2022-11-10.