BET Is Now Available in South Korea via Linear TV and OTT through a Collaboration with SK Broadband
SEOUL / SINGAPORE, September 26, 2017 – Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) today announced the launch of the first BET Channel in Asia, through a partnership with SK Broadband (SK), a major Pay-TV operator in South Korea with 4.2 million subscribers. BET is currently viewed in more than 125 million homes in over 60 countries around the world, including the United States, the UK, France, Africa, Canada and the Caribbean. South Korea is the first Asia market to launch BET, the leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for people who want to know what’s hot, what’s next and what matters in urban black culture. Effective September 26th , BET is available on “B tv”, SK’s linear service as well as oksusu, SK’s over-the-top (OTT) streaming service. Subscribers will be able to enjoy multi-platform viewing with digital simulcast and catch-up TV options for selected programmes.
“The introduction of the BET Channel in Asia is a key step in strengthening our presence both in South Korea and in Asia, while expanding our portfolio of adult-targeted brands. It will not only add content diversity to Korean Pay-TV, but offer top-quality general entertainment, music and news for audiences interested in urban culture,” said Paras Sharma, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Southeast Asia & Head of Digital Media, Asia.
This year’s BET Awards 2017 marked the first time an Asian artist was nominated in the awards. South Korean hip hop rapper Changmo, was included in the “International Viewers’ Choice Award” category.
“We’re proud to be the first to offer BET in Asia as well as in South Korea, and to make it the first urban channel available to our subscribers across multiple screens. We believe the BET channel will find a fan base among Korean youth who are globally recognised as fashion and cultural trendsetters – similar to the BET audience,” said Mr. HyungHee Lee, CEO.
BET has a breadth of formats that includes talk shows, reality programming, films, documentaries and awards programmes. In South Korea, the channel offerings will include a mix of international shows like Being Mary Jane, The Wendy Williams Show, 50 Central, and Face Value, in addition to award shows like BET Awards, Black Girls Rock, The Hip Hop Awards (which will air on BET Korea on October 14th at 9:50pm KST), and local productions from South Korea.
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About BET International
BET Networks is the leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for people that want to know what’s hot, what’s next and what matters in black culture. BET is currently viewed in more than 125 million homes in over 60 countries around the world, including the United States, the UK, France, sub-Saharan Africa, Canada and the Caribbean. BET International is part of Viacom International Media Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all platforms.
About Viacom International Media Networks
Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN), a unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), is comprised of many of the world’s most popular multimedia entertainment brands, including MTV, MTV LIVE HD, Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Comedy Central, Paramount Channel, and more. Viacom brands reach more than 3.8 billion cumulative subscribers in 180+ countries and territories via more than 200 locally programmed and operated TV channels and more than 550 digital media and mobile TV properties, in 40 languages. Keep up with VIMN news by visiting the VIMN PR Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/VIMN_PR. For more information about Viacom and its businesses, visit www.viacom.com, blog.viacom.com and the Viacom Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/Viacom.
About SK Broadband
SK Broadband is one of the largest broadband internet access providers and IPTV platforms in Korea. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Telecom, Korea’s largest wireless carrier. It has subscriber coverage of 4.26 million as of September, 2017. The platform provides total of 226 channels, including 5 UHD channels.
Contact:
Viacom International Media Networks
Adeline Ong, Senior Director, Corporate Communications, Asia
t: +65 6420 7240 m: +65 9366 7323 e: adeline.ong@vimn.com