BET Sets Ratings Record For Series Premiere of 'American Gangster'

BET Sets Ratings Record For Series Premiere of 'American Gangster'

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Tuesday night, viewers handed down a favorable verdict on the debut of original series AMERICAN GANGSTER, a chilling yet gripping depiction of crime and it's consequences. Narrated by award winning actor Ving Rhames, BET's latest offering set a new milestone as the #1 original series November telecast in the network's history. The first in a series of 60-minute episodes, the premiere profiled LA's infamous Crips gang co-founder Stanley Tookie Williams and earned a 1.6 rating (1.3 million households and 1.6 million total viewers), according to Nielsen Media Research. AMERICAN GANGSTER's numbers helped fuel one of the network's best primetime performances of the year with an overall 1.3 rating.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061204/NYM072 )

AMERICAN GANGSTER posted some other impressive gains as well, up 146% versus last year in its daypart and up 191% compared with previous programming this quarter in the 10 - 11 p.m. timeslot. It's noteworthy bow also makes AMERICAN GANGSTER the #1 4th Quarter series premiere in BET history and the #2 series debut overall (behind LIL' KIM: COUNTDOWN TO LOCKDOWN which garnered a 1.7 rating, 1.4 million households, 2.0 million viewers).

The premiere of AMERICAN GANGSTER garnered critical success in addition to ratings success. The following are a few excerpts of show reviews:

"Based on a viewing of next week's profile of former crack king Ross (the show bowed last night with a look at Williams, founder of the Crips gang, who was executed last year), "American Gangster" is sober, intelligent and appropriately judgmental." - Verne Gay, Newsday

"BET makes a savvy push into more challenging territory with this documentary series." - Brian Lowry, Variety

"Grade: B" - Ben Spier, Entertainment Weekly

Executive produced by Nelson George and Frank Sinton (Asylum Entertainment), along with Mark Rowland and BET, the series will profile an infamous crime figure each week through the use of archival footage, photographs and interviews with people familiar with the various cases. Featured experts include ex-members of these polarizing criminals' organizations, police officials from the time period, attorneys that represented the criminals and crime historians.

AMERICAN GANGSTER airs on Tuesdays @ 10 p.m. ET/PT. BET will air encore episodes of AMERICAN GANGSTER on Wednesdays and Sundays at 9 p.m. ET/PT. The second episode which premieres on Tuesday (12/5) @ 10 p.m. ET/PT will profile "Freeway" Ricky Ross, the first crack king of Los Angeles whose dealings not only impacted the local community, but the international drug trade as well. This episode will chronicle Ross' rise and fall in narcotics distribution, as well as discuss his unwitting connection to the infamous Reagan-era CIA/Iran- Contras scandal.

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.

Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20061204/NYM072
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: BET Networks

CONTACT: Tosha Whitten-Griggs, +1-818-655-6712,
Tosha.whitten-griggs@bet.net, or Zabrina Horton, +1-818-655-6737,
Zabrina.horton@bet.net, both of BET; or Mariah O'Hara, of BWR Public
Relations, +1-310-248-6177, mohara@bwr-la.com

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

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