Ratings are IN! Celebration of Gospel 2014 is the most watched in franchise HISTORY

“CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” 2014 DRAWS IN OVER 2 MILLION VIEWERS

NEW YORK, NY – April 7, 2014—BET continues to raise the bar in gospel programming and dominated with last night’s telecast of “CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL”!  According to the Nielsen Company, “CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” 2014 holds the #1 spot in COG franchise history among Households and was seen by an average of 2.6 million total viewers. All key demos were up double-digits vs. COG 13 led by target demos Adults 18-49 (+48%) and Adults 18-34 (+64%).  “CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” remains the #1 gospel/religious telecast on TV for 14 consecutive years, #1 Sunday Special on Cable in 2014 among Adults 18-49 and last night’s premiere was the #1 Sunday BET telecast for 2014 to date among Adults 18-49.

“CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” illuminated the digital sphere with spirited performances and moving renditions by some of today’s hottest and most talented artists from the worlds of gospel and R&B. The telecast topped the charts in the social media and digital arena with thousands of tweets regarding the gospel celebration. According to Social Media Guide, on twitter the 2013 “CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” was up 26 % Year-Over-Year with more than 116K interactions the night of April 6. Several worldwide top trending topics on Twitter were traced back to the empowering telecasts including “Celebration of Gospel” and “Charlie Wilson” which at 9:02 PM ET garnered over 3,500 tweets that minute.

“CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” also set a record for BET.com traffic across all key metrics for day of show. Page views on the site were up 78% Year-Over-Year and Video Views netted 180% over 2013.*

This year’s “CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL” continued the tradition of unique collaborations between the best in soul and gospel music featuring moving performances by Yolanda Adams, Charlie Wilson, Tasha Cobbs, India.Arie, Tamela Mann, Kem, Donnie McClurkin, SWV, Erica Campbell, Candice Glover and many more.

Encore telecasts of “CELEBRATION OF GOSPEL 2014” include:

Join the conversation on Twitter by using the hashtag: #CelebrationofGospel; follow the show for all updates & special surprises @BETGospel.  For more information on “Celebration of Gospel” visit www.bet.com/celebrationofgospel. Viewers can also find updates on Facebook by liking the fan pages at http://www.facebook.com/BETGospel.  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information, including releases and photographs, visit BET’s press web site at www.BETPressRoom.com.

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, 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 90 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; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks – 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 Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; 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.

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LeToya Glenn-Bacon              Zabrina Horton

(212) 205-3158                       (310) 481-3737

letoya.glenn@bet.net              zabrina.horton@bet.net