Black Entertainment Television (BET) is the first cable television station with programming exclusively for and about African Americans. In the early days of the station there was a struggle to obtain a subscriber base, but the founder, Robert Johnson, preserved through the difficult 1980s until BET became a working company. In 1991 BET went public, earning the distinction as the first wholly black-owned firm traded on the New York Stock Exchange.
With the significant raising of capital from the IPO BET was able to expand its operations and created departments for film production, book publishing, and new, innovative television programming. By the end of the 20th century BET had a viewership base of more than 40 million families. In 2001 BET was sold by Johnson for $3 billion, making Johnson the first black billionaire in America.
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