BET Announces Its Top 25 Most Influential Leaders in the World of Business, Entertainment, Sports and Politics With the Premiere of MONEY. POWER. RESPECT.

BET Announces Its Top 25 Most Influential Leaders in the World of Business, Entertainment, Sports and Politics With the Premiere of MONEY. POWER. RESPECT.

Actor Tony Rock Unveils BET's MONEY. POWER. RESPECT., September 29, 2006 @ 10 p.m. ET/PT

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Hip-Hop Mogul Jay-Z, Senator Barak Obama (D-Illinois), Merrill Lynch CEO Stanley O'Neal, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and basketball Hall-of-Famer Magic Johnson are among the elite list of African Americans influencing the world in BET's Top 25: MONEY. POWER. RESPECT. Hosted by funny-man Tony Rock, MONEY. POWER. RESPECT was designed to recognize those individuals who are using the combined in a dynamic way. Do you want to know which Black people have the most money, power and respect in today's society? -- Tune in on Friday, September 29, 2006 at 10 p.m. ET/PT. and find out.

MONEY. POWER. RESPECT. is undeniably the most compelling list from the "Top 25" series thus far. Aside from the individual's net worth, BET also took into consideration their visibility, impact on society, and most importantly reputation. "With so many powerful black people in the world, narrowing down a comprehensive list of the top 25 was a tough one," said Reginald Hudlin, BET's President of Entertainment. "We set up a system to measure wealth, influence and their approval rating across the nation; and the results were surprising. Depending on what you value most: money, power or respect - you may disagree with the ranking, but you can't contest our roster."

"This is not your traditional 'who's got the most cake' list," said Stephen G. Hill, Executive Vice President of BET's Music Programming. "Each individual's standing in the community and the absolute influence they have worldwide were relevant factors. Bottom line: We think the audience will debate about this list as much as we did."

These TOP 25 define and exemplify greatness at virtually every level. Together with commentary from today's funniest comedians, top journalists and entertainers, MONEY. POWER. RESPECT is a tribute to American ingenuity, creativity and ambition. Additional footage, commentary and extended coverage along with the complete list of 25 power players can be found at BET.com and on BET's exclusive broadband feature BET on Blast immediately following the premiere.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(NYSE:and)(NYSE: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 83 million households according to Nielsen media research, and can be seen in the United States, Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, the Number 1 Internet portal for African Americans; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

Source: BET Networks

CONTACT: Marcy Polanco, +1-212-975-4048, Marcy.Polanco@BET.net, or
Tricia N. Newell, +1-212-975-8230, Tricia.Newell@BET.net, both of BET
Networks

Web site: http://www.bet.com/

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