Are Kenya Barris, 50 Cent and Shaq About to Buy BET?

It looks like three new players have entered the chat when it comes to the conversation of who exactly will be the new owners of BET: Kenya Barris, 50 Cent, and Shaquille O’Neal.

Over the weekend, TMZ reported that Barris and 50 were recently spotted at Paramount studios. Though no deals have been officially made, the fact that three entertainment and sports heavyweights are now involved in the the sale of the legendary network means that the race for ownership has gotten a whole lot more interesting. To date, Diddy, Tyler Perry, and Byron Allen have all inquired about potentially purchasing BET.

There’s no telling which way the pendulum will swing but no matter who ends up in the leader’s chair, what should be paramount (ha!) is the fact that new skin in the game should signify some new changes. And by “new changes,” I mean new programming that’ll bring a breath of fresh air into the network. New shows and series that speak to what the people actually want to see, not just endless repeats of past favorites and reboots. Let’s bring back the music video countdowns! Give us a long-standing late-night show!

Give us something that’ll actually make folks tune in because they want to be a part of a conversation and engage in some art that means something to them. It’s no good if there’s a big name attached to a legacy network if nothing good comes out of it. This could be BET’s biggest and best next era, let’s hope for all of us and for all of the culture that it is.