BET Networks Commemorates President-Elect Barack Obama's Historic Road to Victory With All-Day Coverage on Wednesday, November 5

BET Networks Commemorates President-Elect Barack Obama's Historic Road to Victory With All-Day Coverage on Wednesday, November 5

Russell Simmons, Cedric The Entertainer, Kerry Washington, Jurnee Smollett, Hill Harper and More Join BET in Celebrating this Momentous Time in U.S. History

NEW YORK, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- With his meteoric rise to victory, president-elect Barack Obama has truly effected change in this nation and become the nation's first-ever African-American president. To celebrate this momentous time in history, BET Networks, in an unprecedented move, will suspend all regular programming and fill its schedule with inspirational Obama speeches, live news coverage, viewer call-ins, celebrity drop-ins, and more. The network will be joined by celebrity guests Russell Simmons, Cedric The Entertainer, Kerry Washington, Jurnee Smollett, Hill Harper, BET political analyst Keith Boykin, political pundits Keli Goff and Angela McGlowan, and The New York Times editor Marcus Mabrey, as well as Obama campaign members, as BET continues to offer its audience an extensive, in-depth look at Obama's journey to the White House.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070716/BETNETWORKSLOGO )

Through its live coverage, news specials and up-to-the-minute news briefs, as well as on-air crawls throughout the day with result updates, BET News has engaged and informed its audience with vital news, analysis and community response during the final days of Senator Barack Obama's historic run as the country's first African-American candidate for the presidency.

"This is the most historic moment in my lifetime, in my children's lifetimes, in many of our viewers' lifetimes," said Debra L. Lee, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, BET Networks. "There will be a Black family in the White House, and that's a testament to and a reflection on those who have fought the good fight before us. It's a celebration of everyone, everywhere -- black, white, brown, male, female, straight, gay -- who banded together, made their voices heard, and voted for change. This election and President-Elect Barack Obama have shown me not only the great progress that we've made but also have given me hope and inspiration for how much more we can accomplish together. I'm so proud of everything BET Networks has done and is doing to encourage our audience to participate in this political process, and I'm so proud of the impact we've had."

BET will re-air its news specials and Obama's speeches throughout the day on Wednesday, November 5:

-- 9:00-11:00 AM*: BET NEWS: SALUTE TO OBAMA featured a live panel
discussion with celebrity call-ins/satellite reactions. Jeff Johnson
and a team of political strategists, special guests and BET News
correspondents will provide context and analysis of what Obama's run
for the White House means.
-- 11:00 AM-12:00 PM*: THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT
-- 12:00-12:30 PM*: JOURNEY TO THE WHITE HOUSE (BET News special)
-- 12:30-1:00 PM*: DREAMS: 45 YEARS LATER (BET News special)
-- 1:00-1:30 PM*: RUNNING FOR PRESIDENT (Obama's June 2008 speech when he
became the presumptive Democratic nominee)
-- 1:30-2:00 PM*: YES WE CAN (Obama's speech after the New Hampshire
primary)
-- 2:00-3:00 PM*: OBAMA'S ELECTION NIGHT SPEECH
-- 3:00-3:30 PM*: FIRST LADY SPEECH (Michelle Obama's DNC 2008 speech)
-- 3:30-4:00 PM*: DNC 2004 SPEECH
-- 4:00-5:00 PM*: I ACCEPT (Obama's DNC 2008 speech)
-- 5:00-6:00 PM*: OBAMA'S ELECTION NIGHT SPEECH
-- 6:00-8:00 PM*: 106 & PARK ELECTION COVERAGE
-- 8:00-9:00 PM*: THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT
-- 9:00-10:00 PM*: OBAMA'S ELECTION NIGHT SPEECH
-- 10:00-11:00 PM*: A MORE PERFECT UNION (Obama's speech on race)
-- 11:00 PM-12:00 AM*: THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT
-- 12:00-1:00 AM*: OBAMA'S ELECTION NIGHT SPEECH
-- 1:00-3:00 AM*: BET NEWS: SALUTE TO OBAMA
-- 3:00-3:30 AM*: FIRST LADY SPEECH
-- 3:30-4:00 AM*: DNC 2004 SPEECH

Leading up to the final days of the 2008 presidential election, past coverage on BET and BET J included the specials and series listed above, as well as election-focused editions of 106 & PARK and THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT: WHAT OBAMA MEANS TO AMERICA, a BET News special about African-American expectations of an Obama presidency, his race and the forces that have brought him to history's door. Online, BET.com broadcast BE HEARD: ELECTION 2008 on BET on Blast and invited visitors to upload videos showing their voting experience, problems, etc. In addition, the site offered celebrity interviews and reactions to the election results.

*All times ET/PT

For more on BET Networks' 2008 presidential election coverage, please visit http://www.bet.com/beheard.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:VIA)(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 87 million households according to Nielsen Media Research, and can be seen in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. 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; 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, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070716/BETNETWORKSLOGO
AP Archive: http://photoarchive.ap.org/
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
Source: BET Networks

CONTACT: Bernadette Simpao, +1-212-205-3154, bernadette.simpao@bet.net,
or Tricia N. Newell, +1-212-975-8230, tricia.newell@bet.net, both of BET
Networks

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

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