BET Partners With Yahoo! Music to Give Music Fans a Front Row Seat to the 'BET AWARDS '09'

BET Partners With Yahoo! Music to Give Music Fans a Front Row Seat to the 'BET AWARDS '09'

Yahoo! Music to Feature Exclusive Award Show Coverage and Content

Hosted by Jamie Foxx, the BET AWARDS '09 Will Premiere LIVE on Sunday, June 28 at 8:00 p.m.* with Performances by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyonce, Maxwell, Ne-Yo, Mary Mary, Fabolous, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy, and Appearances by Queen Latifah, Taraji P. Henson, Idris Elba, Sherri Shepherd, Paula Patton, The O'Jays, Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean

NEW YORK, June 18 /PRNewswire/ -- BET, the largest African American targeted media company, and Yahoo! Music, one of the world's largest music sites, are coming together for a content and promotional partnership in support of the BET AWARDS '09, the #1 program in cable television among African Americans.

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

As part of the partnership, Yahoo! Music will showcase for its users originally produced BET video segments in conjunction with this year's telecast, including Jamie Foxx, Beyonce and Jay-Z. Yahoo! Music will also offer its users access to exclusive red carpet photography from the BET AWARDS '09 and post-show video content.

Yahoo! will also promote the BET AWARDS '09 site (www.bet.com/betawards) across multiple Yahoo! properties, including Yahoo! Music (http://music.yahoo.com/), Yahoo! Entertainment (http://entertainment.yahoo.com/), and Yahoo! TV (http://tv.yahoo.com/)

"We're thrilled to be partnering with Yahoo! to promote the BET Awards, which is consistently the biggest show of the year for the African American audience," said Denmark West, President of BET Digital. "We're confident that with Yahoo!'s support in spreading the word about the BET AWARDS '09, this year's show will be the most successful yet."

Hosted by Jamie Foxx, the BET AWARDS '09 will bring together the brightest stars in music, sports and entertainment in Los Angeles' historic Shrine Auditorium for a night of exhilarating LIVE performances on Sunday, June 28 at 8:00 p.m.* This year viewers will be wowed with show-stopping performances by Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyonce, Maxwell, Ne-Yo, Mary Mary, Fabolous, Young Jeezy and Soulja Boy, and Queen Latifah, Taraji P. Henson, Idris Elba, Sherri Shepherd and Paula Patton will attend as presenters. BET will also celebrate the musical legacy and contributions of the soul trio, The O'Jays, who will be presented with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award, and Alicia Keys and Wyclef Jean will receive the Humanitarian Award.

Visit BET.com for BET On Blast video highlights, photos and continuous BET AWARDS '09 updates at www.bet.com/betawards.

*All times ET/PT

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 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. 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 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, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! is focused on powering its communities of users, advertisers, publishers, and developers by creating indispensable experiences built on trust. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. For more information, visit pressroom.yahoo.com.

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

CONTACT: Bernadette Simpao of BET Networks, +1-212-205-3154,
bernadette.simpao@bet.net; or Carrie Davis of Yahoo!, +1-310-907-3774,
carried@yahoo-inc.com

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

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