BET went “boom” Sunday night.
The live telecast of the BET AWARDS SHOW pulled in 7.4 million viewers. 2.6 million watched the pre-awards show and 3.6 million kept tuned for the post awards show. BET AWARDS began at 8 p.m. EST and ended 11:41 p.m. EST.
More people tuned in for the BET than they did the Academy Awards. There were more than 10 million tweets Sunday night during the live BET AWARDS 2012 event. That number is up a skyrocketed 683 percent from last year.
#BETAWARDS averaged 23,932 tweets per minute during the live telecast and trended for more than ten hours. It was the number one trending topic worldwide. BET AWARDS 2012 Facebook page got 1.4 million likes. BET Mobile experienced an all-time high engagement of 25.4 million page views on show day. The BET AWARDS APP received over 270k downloads.
Cable television programs can thrive with smaller viewing audiences than network television programs. Networks like at least 12 million viewers watching their shows, particularly productions with larger budgets. Pay TV networks shows are hits when they have at least one million viewers per episodes.
The BET Awards ceremony can be as cold as the Apollo Theater for celebrities in cahoots with fans who release their discontent with resounding boos. Even Jay-Z was nervous. ABC “Scandal” star Kerry Washington presented and she was a bundle of nerves. But the audience and Chris Brown’s entourage reserved their boos for Drake. Not that it mattered because Drake wasn’t there. In the past, BET AWARDS show audiences have booed the celebrities as they made their speeches.
The annual BET AWARDS ceremony has consistently ranked among the top five cable awards shows every year among total viewers. This year's show, which aired from 8:00 p.m.-11:41 p.m.,* featured performances and appearances by Mariah Carey, D'Angelo, Nicki Minaj,Melanie Fiona, Brandy, Monica, Beyonce, Jay-Z, Chaka Khan, Chante Moore, Valerie Simpson,Chris Brown, Yolanda Adams, Tyler Perry, Faith, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Meagan Good,Elle Varner and Cedric The Entertainer. BET awarded its Lifetime Achievement Award to Frankie Beverly and Maze. Singer Brandy did a successful medley of Whitney Houston hits in contralto. But Usher opened the show and was followed soon after by Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj.
BET can’t get over its hump of a conflict between Hip Hop lyrics and educating black youth. Much of the BET AWARDS show was bleeped out because of the language. Nicki Minaj did “Beez in the Trap” a wise choice for an artist with vociferous, if not ferocious haters. Rick Ross entertained, but again, much of his performance was lost on viewers who couldn’t hear what he said because the lyrics were censored.
While the BET Awards show may be the money makers for BET overall, BET is still working to resolve consumer complaints with the network. Consequently, the network introduced its “WE GOT YOU” campaign.
"We created this campaign to convey to our core audiences, the African American community and lovers of black culture, that we clearly understand their needs and are committed to creating niche, unique and engaging programming exclusively for them," said Vicky Free, Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice-President of Marketing, BET Networks.
Mindless Behavior won the Coca-Cola’s Viewers’ Choice Award. Over 26 million votes were submitted for Mindless Behavior. One ultimate fan voting over 280,000 times and many fans voting over 200,000 times each.
The BET AWARDS Show broadcasts again tonight at 8 p.m. EST.
Photo courtesy: Usher Official Facebook page (profile).
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