BET Honoring African-Americans Successes in Upcoming Special Event

On January 12th, 2008, at the Warner Theater in Washington D.C. BET will host "BET Honors," in recognition of exceptional African-American public figures. The program will air on the network (Black Entertainment Television) on Friday, February 22nd, 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time, in honor of Black History Month.

According to a press release issued by BET Networks and published on prnewswire.com, the event will be hosted by Cedric the "Entertainer." Executive producers include Stephen Hill, BET's Executive Vice President Entertainment Programming, Music and Talent and Lynne Harris Taylor, VP of specials. Also serving as executive producer is John Cossett of John Cossett Productions.

The program will honor the following individuals:

Tyra Banks, for media. In addition to her career as a supermodel, Banks hosts her own daytime television show and is host and judge of America's Next Top Model, a reality show.

Alicia Keys, for entertainment. Keys has sold over 25 million records worldwide. She is an R&B singer and pianist. Keys is also a songwriter.

Janice Bryant Howroyd, for entrepreneur. Howroyd is the CEO, chairman and founder of ACT*1. Her firm provides personnel staffing, human resources services and management solutions to many Fortune 500 companies.

Congresswoman Maxine Waters, for government. Waters was elected, in 2006, to her ninth term in the House of Representatives. She is a Democrat representing the 35^th District in California.

Richard Parsons, for corporate. Parsons is the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Time Warner, Inc. Time Warner Inc. includes busineses such as cable networks, films, television networks, publishing, and more.

Dr. Cornel West, for inspirational/educational. Dr. West is a Princeton University Professor of African-American studies and of Religion. In addition to winning over 20 honorary degrees, West has won other prestigious awards such as the American Book Award.

Debra Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks, said, "We are thrilled to present the first-ever BET HONORS and pay tribute to the thinkers, trailblazers and trendsetters whose accomplishments serve as inspirations for current and future generations...Each of these remarkable individuals has made significant contributions to the Black community and American culture overall, and BET Networks is proud to recognize them through this very special, new tentpole event. We've done a number of significant shows in other cities, but what better place to honor these individuals than in our home city of Washington, D.C."

BET Networks is a division of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), and the BET Network is available in 87 million homes nationwide according to Nielson Media Research.

Other announcers and performers who will be involved in the event will be announced soon.

For more information or for updates, visit BET's press only website at: www.bet.com/pr

Sources:

BET Networks Recognizes the Achievements of Alicia Keys, Tyra Banks, Dr. Cornel West, Richard Parsons, Congresswoman Maxine Waters and CEO Janice Bryant Howroyd with 'THE BET HONORS'
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=104&STORY=/www/story/12-17-2007/0004724231&EDATE

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