Veteran ad executive installed as BET president in Paramount shake-up

Veteran advertizing enforcement Louis Carr has been elevated to president of Paramount’s BET channel.

“For astir 4 decades, Louis has been instrumental successful driving BET’s occurrence and taste influence,” George Cheeks, Paramount’s caput of TV Media, including CBS, wrote successful a unit enactment announcing a enactment power astatine the web dedicated to Black culture. “His heavy acquisition and proven way grounds presumption him to expertly usher the marque into its adjacent era.”

Carr volition win Scott M. Mills, who announced Wednesday that helium was stepping down aft 23 years astatine the network, including 4 arsenic main enforcement of the BET Media Group.

Mills spearheaded the instauration of the BET+ streaming work to grow the scope of the network’s programming arsenic good arsenic the enactment of BET Studios, which struck partnerships with specified A-list creators arsenic Kenya Barris and Rashida Jones.

Paramount has been restructuring divisions and slicing costs since tech scion David Ellison and his household bought Paramount successful August. Ellison and executives representing concern spouse RedBird Capital Partners promised Wall Street that it would find much than $2 cardinal successful outgo savings, a determination that has led to much than 2,000 occupation cuts this fall.

BET Studios volition beryllium folded into the larger CBS Studios part but support its ain label. The determination was designed, successful part, to align BET’s projects with different amusement accumulation wrong the institution “while preserving BET’s unsocial programming marque and constituent of view,” Cheeks wrote. Instead of operating arsenic a outer wrong Paramount, BET section heads volition enactment much intimately with others successful Cheeks’ part and gully enactment from shared services specified arsenic finance, selling and research.

Paramount’s caller managers person described BET arsenic 1 of the company’s 4 pillars of cablegram programming, on with Comedy Central, MTV and Nickelodeon.

Louis Carr was appointed president of BET connected Wednesday.

(Paramount)

Carr, 69, has spent astir 4 decades astatine the network.

“He has generated billions successful advertizing income and cultivated partnerships with category-leading companies specified arsenic Procter & Gamble, Unilever, McDonald’s, and Apple,” Cheeks wrote. “His enactment has shaped firm strategies for planetary brands, driven innovation, and strengthened BET’s relation arsenic an manufacture leader.”

Carr is based successful New York, and volition study to Cheeks.

Carr has written 2 books and served arsenic a committee subordinate for the Ad Council, the International Radio and Television Society (IRTS) and American Advertising Federation (AAF). He established the Louis Carr Internship Foundation, placing undergraduate students of colour successful paid summertime internships to assistance nurture a caller procreation of leaders.

“BET and its committedness to Black and Brown communities has been my life’s work,” Carr said successful a statement. “It’s a privilege to pb the marque to the adjacent level of excellence and impact.”