Paramount Is Reportedly In Talks To Sell BET For Almost $2 Billion

For most of 2023, Paramount has been looking to sell BET. Reportedly, earlier this year, Paramount decided that the offers for BET were not worth it now though Paramount has decided to once again look at deals to sell BET.

According to a report from Bloomberg, Paramount is in talks with multiple potential buyers, include BET Chief Executive Officer Scott Mills and Chinh Chu, a former Blackstone Inc. member. The deal will reportedly be for just under $2 billion.

Originally this deal would reportedly include BET cable networks, BET+, a subscription streaming service, and BET studios. VH1 is now also managed by BET and would reportedly be included in this deal. Now though, it is unknown if VH1 will be a part of this new deal.

Paramount in the past, was reportedly interested in a minority stake but is likely looking for ways to cut back on expenses and earn cash to pay down its debts. It is unknown if this deal will still include a minority stake in the channel.

Paramount also recently agreed to sell Simon & Schuster to Penguin Random House for $2.2 billion, but regulators killed the deal. Paramount also sold the classic CBS NYC headquarters known as Black Rock and a large number of websites back in 2020.

Now selling BET seems to be the next step in Paramount’s efforts to free up cash to pay off debts and invest in Paramount+. 

Credit: Luke Bouma.

The Simpsons: Night Of The Living Treehouse Of Horror (GBC)

The Simpsons: Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror is a platform game published by THQ on March 19, 2001, for the Game Boy Color. Developed by Software Creations, it is based on the Treehouse of Horror episodes of the animated television series The Simpsons. The game features seven side-scrolling levels in which the player controls the members of the Simpson family. Night of the Living Treehouse of Horror has received average reviews from critics, with praise directed at the design.

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New Series Alert: Eternal Love Coming This January To eExtra

eExtra, a general entertainment channel operated by eMedia Investments that distributes content from Turkey, Asia and India will be rolling out their first series for the new year titled Eternal Love (also known as Three Lives, Three Worlds, Ten Miles of Peach Blossoms).

Synopsis for Eternal Love:

A free-spirited woman's soul inhabits the body of a timid woman from a different time. She must find a way to balance her double life when she falls in love with two different men.

Based on the novel of the same name, it starred Yang Mi as Bai Qian/Si Yin/Su Su, Mark Chao as Mo Yuan/Jin Lian/Ye Hua/Zhao Ge, Ken Chang as Zhe Yan, Zhang Gong as Bai Zhi, Ma Rui as Fox Queen, Leng Haiming as Bai Yi and Yu Menglong as Bai Zhen.

As of August 2018, Eternal Love had reached 50 billion views, becoming the most watched television series in the world. The series has also attracted large number of foreign fans, which was said to mark a new renaissance for Chinese television.

Based on the novel of the same name, it consisted of 57 episodes each with a 1 hour duration. The first episode is slated to air on weekdays at 16:15 from Monday 1st January reviving the Asian drama timeslot on the channel and further cutting down on the repeats.

eMedia's 4 Channels Recieve Another Extension On MultiChoice's DStv, Might Go Dark By August 2024

Since 2022, eMedia Investments and MultiChoice had been undergoing a carriage dispute with the Competition Tribunal. After the pay-tv operated planned to remove these channels by March of that year was only fortunate enough to axe eMovies, eMovies Extra, eToonz and eExtra by the end of May.

At the time, MultiChoice mentioned that they had been phased with transponder constraints and that eMedia's 4 channels didn't fit their 5 year content strategy. eMedia Investments showed that MultiChoice did have enough satellite capacity and that their channels do abide by local quotas.

Following their cancellation, MultiChoice was met with severe backlash from various DStv consumers. Overtime, the pay-tv operator managed to supplement this offering with the expansions of KIX and PBS Kids alongside further new channels, DreamWorks and Movie Room.

By August of that year, eMedia Investments had recieved numerous extensions for their 4 Openview channels. After MultiChoice was planning to remove it by July 2023 and could have removed it by January 2024 will probably be able get it over with by August 2024.

Alas this case will have a 2 year and 6 month duration and despite how some people (including myself) wish these parties could have solved their issues much sooner.

Just know, eMedia's 4 Openview channels future were predicted by the end of May 2022 - Openview. MultiChoice has refused eMedia's attempts for a possible extension and honestly the Competition Tribunal can only help them recieve compensation at this point.

From MultiChoice's perspective, these 4 channels don't really have much to offer as I've mentioned for the past year eMedia Investments had been bundling these channel's content on e.tv and a selection of content is also accessible on DreamWorks and M-Net Movies.

That doesn't mean they aren't performing to their potential I feel similar to Zee One or BBC UKTV. These channels will hold more use to consumers that don't have access to the content residing within DStv.

The only issue here which is similar to what Nismedia had with Glow TV before it's departure is sustainability. eMedia Investments would have cutback on content in order to stay afloat as about 40% of their revenue is on DStv.

DStv Without E! Entertainment??? As NBCUniversal Looks To Close The Channel In The UK

During the week, it was reported that Peacock would be closing down in the UK by the end of 2023. But that's not the only thing NBCUniversal plans to scrap of their bucket list as E! Entertainment is also slated to go dark on Sky and Virgin Media with further content on Hayu.

Hayu serves as the digital counterpart of both E! Entertainment and Bravo which is also operated by NBCUniversal. From 2024, consumers wanting to watch shows like Keeping Up With The Kardashians and Below Deck Mediterranean would need to view it on the streamer.

The news of its demise doesn't come as much of a shock following its closure in Germany by 2022. At the time, it was outlined that the feeds in the UK and Eastern Europe were anticipated to continue but from what we can see that was short lived.

If we had to guess why E! Entertainment was getting culled its probably similar to Disney's reasons for the terminating the FOX/Star general entertainment brand in parts of the world. The latter are putting more focus toward their direct to consumer business which has been making waves for a while now.

NBCUniversal has been cutting back on the original content slate for E! Entertainment which resulted in content from Bravo being added to the lineup. The idea of E! Entertainment becoming a thing of the past wouldn't seem far fetched or at least in regions where Hayu exists.

Hayu is available in United Kingdom, Ireland, Albania, Italy, Australia, Denmark, Canada, Netherlands, Belgium, Philippines, Hong Kong, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Poland. Although Hayu is not available in South Africa or anywhere in Africa the latter would form part of Showmax's existing offering.