MTV is an American cable television channel. It was officially launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a division of Paramount Global.
VH1 is an American basic cable television network based in New York City. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communications and the original owner of MTV, and launched on January 1, 1985, in the former space of Turner Broadcasting System's short-lived Cable Music Channel. The channel is currently owned by Paramount Global.
Kimberly Denise Jones, better known by her stage name Lil' Kim, is an American rapper. She was born and raised in New York City and lived much of her adolescent life on the streets after being expelled from home. In her teens, she would freestyle rap, influenced by fellow female hip-hop artists like MC Lyte and the Lady of Rage. In 1994, she was discovered by fellow rapper The Notorious B.I.G., who invited her to join his group Junior M.A.F.I.A.; their debut album, Conspiracy, generated two top 20 singles in the United States and was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Black Entertainment Television is an American basic cable channel which is the first network to target black American audiences. It is owned by Paramount Global through CBS Entertainment Group.
Punk'd is an American hidden camera–practical joke reality television series that first aired on MTV in 2003. It was created by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, with Kutcher serving as producer and host. It bears a resemblance to both the classic hidden camera show Candid Camera and to TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, which also featured pranks on celebrities. Being "punk'd" referred to being the victim of such a prank. New episodes hosted by King Bach and DeStorm Power aired on BET.
Soul Train is an American musical variety television show. After airing locally on WCIU-TV in Chicago, Illinois for a year, it aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series was created by Don Cornelius, who also served as its first and longest-serving host and executive producer.
BET Her is an American basic cable television network owned by Paramount Media Networks. The network is a spin-off of BET with a focus on general entertainment targeting African-American women.
Marie Antoinette Wright, better known by her stage name, Free, is an American media personality, television producer, choreographer, rapper, and philanthropist. She became known as the first host of Black Entertainment Television's 106 & Park until 2005. She was later as a disc jockey at KKBT 100.3 The Beat in L.A., serving as a morning drive co-host at WPGC-FM in Washington, D.C., and is the former co-host of The Ed Lover Morning Show on Power 105.1 in New York.
Keshia Chanté Harper is a Canadian singer, television host, actress, songwriter, businesswoman and philanthropist. As a teenager, Chanté gained recognition with the release of her singles "Unpredictable," "Bad Boy," "Does He Love Me," "Been Gone," "2U," and "Fallen," featuring Drake and has since released four albums. In 2013, she rose to international prominence as co-host of BET's 106 & Park with Bow Wow, launching her career as a TV Host and Television Personality. Chanté is also known as Drake's first girlfriend and musical muse who he refers to as "KIKI" in his song In My Feelings.
The Dan Patrick Show is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and independently of their Fox Sports Radio package. The three-hour program debuted on October 1, 2007. It is broadcast weekdays live beginning at 9:00 a.m. Eastern. The current show is a successor to the original Dan Patrick Show, which aired from 1999 to 2007 on ESPN Radio weekdays at 1:00 p.m. Eastern/10:00 a.m. Pacific.
Tamar Estine Braxton is an American singer and television personality.
106 & Park is an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast on weekdays at 6:00 pm ET/5:00 pm CT on BET; it aired on a one-day delay on BET International. It was the network's highest-rated show throughout its run. On November 14, 2014, BET cancelled 106 & Park, with an alleged shift to a digital-only format, with occasional specials during network event programming, though the last time it was seen in any form was the 2016 BET Experience, and the digital-only program never aired.
The Soul Train Music Awards is an annual music awards show which previously aired in national broadcast syndication, and honors the best in African-American culture, music and entertainment. It is produced by the makers of Soul Train, the program from which it takes its name, and features musical performances by various contemporary R&B and soul music recording artists interspersed throughout the ceremonies. The special traditionally used to air in either February, March or April, but now airs the last weekend of November.
Donnie Simpson is a longtime American radio DJ as well as a television and movie personality. He hosted The Donnie Simpson Morning Show on Washington, D.C., radio station WPGC-FM from March 1993 to January 29, 2010. Currently, he hosts The Donnie Simpson Show on D.C.-based radio station WMMJ-FM, which began airing on August 17, 2015. Donnie is the first urban-format radio personality to have an annual salary over $1 million without being syndicated.
Video Soul is a two–hour long American music video program that originally aired on BET from June 26, 1981 to September 1996. The program was devoted to showcasing R&B and Soul recording artists and performers' music videos.
Video LP is a half-hour, live viewer call-in program that debuted in 1986 on BET. It primarily showcased R&B/Soul and Hip-Hop music videos. The original hostess was Robin Breedon, but the most well-known host was Sherry Carter from 1989 until 1992, when she moved on to co-host Video Soul from 1992-1996). Madelyne Woods also served as hostess for a short time.
Raquel Roxanne "Rocsi" Diaz is a Honduran-born American television host, radio personality, model and actress. She is best known as “Rocsi” from her time spent as a co-host on BET’s music video countdown program 106 & Park from 2006–2012. She was then a correspondent on Entertainment Tonight from 2012–2014, where she was referred to as "Rocsi Diaz".
Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo is an American R&B singer-songwriter and rapper from Los Angeles, California. Aiko embarked on her musical career in 2002, as a backing vocalist and music video performer for the R&B group B2K. She was signed by their record label, The Ultimate Group that same year and was marketed as the "cousin" of B2K member Lil' Fizz to cultivate her own following, although they are not related. Her debut album, slated for a 2003 release through the label with Epic Records, was shelved due to Aiko instead further pursuing her education.
Edward Lansing Gordon III is an American television journalist known for his association with BET over four different decades. A native of Detroit, Ed Gordon is the son of an Olympic athlete also named Ed Gordon. The younger Gordon was BET's main news anchor from 1988 to 1996 and again from 2000 to 2001 before hosting the interview show BET Tonight from 2001 to 2002 and another interview show, Weekly with Ed Gordon, from 2010 to 2011.
Paramount Global is an American multinational entertainment conglomerate that was the subject of criticisms and controversies about its products and services. Criticism of Paramount Global has included the former Viacom Inc.'s announced plans of looking into splitting the company into two publicly traded companies. The company was not only dealing with a stagnating stock price, but also the rivalry between Leslie Moonves and Tom Freston, longtime heads of MTV Networks. In addition, the company was facing issues after MTV was banned from producing any more Super Bowl halftime shows after the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy in 2004.
