fbpx

Dan Runcie: Here Are The Potential Challenges For Tyler Perry Buying BET Media Group

Dan Runcie: Here Are The Potential Challenges For Tyler Perry Buying BET Media Group

BET

Tyler Perry arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 27, 2022. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)

The internet has been abuzz lately with news that Paramount Global may be selling the Black Entertainment Television network, affectionately known to viewers as BET. Tyler Perry is rumored to be considering a bid and Trapital founder Dan Runcie had some thoughts about the challenges and opportunities Perry may encounter.

Runcie expressed his opinions in a Twitter thread on Wednesday, March 8.

“Tyler Perry wants to buy BET Media Group. Paramount Global is exploring a sale of the business that includes BET, VH1, and BET+. There’s some upside for Tyler, but there would be challenges too,” Runcie began.

Runcie then explained his position that if Perry purchased BET, the upside would be controlling content distribution, having access to more licensing opportunities and increasing the number of Black owners in entertainment.

However, the downside would be that streaming services are struggling, Perry already owns his content and there has to be a reason Paramount wants to sell BET in the first place.

According to Runcie, Perry may do better sticking with the partnership model that has served him so well over the years and helped him become a billionaire. After noting a few more challenges, Runcie said, “It may be better to let the video streamers fight it out.”

Perry isn’t the only Black media owner interested in bidding for a majority stake in BET – a point Runcie also made. Media mogul Byron Allen and Group Black have also expressed interest.

Allen is a multi-millionaire media mogul whose company, Allen Media Group, owns The Weather Channel, The Grio (formerly the Black News Channel) and several other stations and networks.

Group Black is a Black-owned media collective on a mission to help scale and support Black-owned media brands. It is run by co-founder and CEO Travis Montaque and is based in his hometown of Miami, Florida.

After sharing his assessment, Runcie asked Twitter users what they thought. They offered various opinions.

“Cable TV is a declining business. The future is streaming. It’s kind of like buying a newspaper or radio station today. Should focus on BET+. It may need to be renamed. BET is a declining brand in our community,” @GaTechAlum_IE92 wrote.

“Independent streaming services aren’t sustainable… not enough content to put up. Bet+ has to go. But studious and network ability to amplify the reach of his available content and and easier path for the new stuff is a good plan to me,” @GPCarlo101 chimed in.

“Consortium with folks like Robert Smith of Vista (personal money), black media entrepreneurs and celebrities. Hard to see this go to someone other than Tyler Perry (+ consortium) given his existing stake. Agree it will be very tough for it to survive standalone,” @MidtwonVest wrote.

“Robert Smith is a PE guy. The math won’t work for his model, and that’s a lot of bread to put up for something outside his software-centric wheelhouse. I think Tyler wants the leverage of owning Black media. Smart money would be to roll up smaller assets too a la Blavity,” @joahspearman replied.

PHOTO: Tyler Perry arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party on Sunday, March 27, 2022, at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)