More media companies are betting on free, ad-supported streaming television and BET Media Group is the latest to jump in the FAST lane.
The media company is expanding its partnership with producer Tyler Perry by bringing his original series to free, ad-supported television channels.
Starting this month, fans will be able to watch eight different series that feature 750 episodes and nearly 600 hours of free programming on platforms like the Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Plex, TCL, FreeVee, and others. The shows will be available on two different channels: the BET Tyler Perry Comedy Channel and the BET Tyler Perry Drama Channel.
Louis Carr, BET Media Group’s president of sales, says the media company, which has distributed some films on PlutoTV, made the decision to expand its FAST offerings to build on the success of Perry’s content and bring it to a broader audience.
The company launched BET+ in 2019, which currently costs $5.99 per month with limited ads—or $10.99 for the ad-free plan.
“A great majority of Tyler Perry’s content has never been seen beyond a paywall,” Carr tells Fast Company. “So when you think about whether it is the series that he created for Turner or even us, consumers have had to pay for the majority of it. It’s a big deal that they’ll be able to see his library for free.”
Carr says that broadening the company’s streaming platform also helps BET continue to reach audiences who consume content on their phone.
“It gives us the opportunity to expand our overall digital reach through these particular channels,” Carr adds.
FAST offerings like Amazon’s Freevee, Paramount’s Pluto TV, and Fox’s Tubi continue to gain speed in the streaming space, as consumers look to save money amid rising costs. And surveys show Black Americans are engaging with FAST platforms. According to a recent survey from CRG Global research, 61% of Black adults over the age of 18 regularly watch at least one FAST service. Despite this, Black Americans continue to be underserved by FAST channels, according to a report from Variety Intelligence Platform. Bet Media Group is trying to close that gap.
“We will be putting out content over these free services in two different genres that are especially attractive to the African American audience,” Carr says. “We’re not just throwing up a salad of content. We’re very specific and strategic about what we are making available for the audiences that exist out there.”
Carr says BET plans to eventually expand its FAST offerings as the company learns and understands the appetite of its audiences.
“This continues to show that we are the scale player in our particular environment that is trying to target the African American consumer,” says Carr. “So as we continue to expand our platforms of distribution, we continue to expand and grow our overall content. This is our commitment to both the consumer and our advertisers, that we are not just sitting back resting on our laurels. We continue to understand our audience and the ecosystem which they engage in, and we want to continue to be very creative and strategic on how we serve this audience. We continue to make sure that our content is available in a very broad and sometimes complex ecosystem in today’s world.”
Earlier this month, Bloomberg reported that Paramount was in talks to sell BET to a group that included BET Media Group’s CEO Scott Mills for around $1.6 billion. (Tyler Perry had reportedly expressed interest in buying BET last year.) BET declined to comment on the potential sale.