---

Staff post about: Robert Johnson Become an Author

Tweet

---

---

Johnson was in a business meeting at the NCTA when he met a businessman who wanted to start a television station for the elderly. “I said, hmmm, let me see that,” recalls Johnson. “So I looked at it, and I said, wherever he had elderly I crossed out and put black people. Black people are a certain demographic, black people are poorly depicted on television, so on, and so forth.”

Johnson was convinced he was onto something. He had no prior business experience, but he was convinced he had discovered an untapped market. Using $15,000 of his own money, he put together a business plan for his new station. With that, he was able to convince John Malone, head of Tele-Communications (TCI) to invest half a million dollars in the venture.

“It doesn't sound like a lot, but to me, from a family of ten, a half million dollars was probably more money than I'd seen in the whole town where I grew up,” says Johnson, “in terms of the whole black population probably didn't have a half million dollars in net worth.”

Johnson then met with UA-Columbia Cablevision president Bob Rosencrans, who owned slots on a cable television satellite. He agreed to let Johnson use those slots for his new black programming channel. Johnson named his new business Black Entertainment Television (BET) and went live for the very first time on January 8, 1980.

BET was the first black-owned broadcasting company on cable television in history. Still, it began as an unimpressive mesh of poor-quality programming. It started with only two hours of old movies each Friday. In fact, for the first five years, BET would only lose money. Soon, however, it began to expand its programming, and cable operators jumped on board. They believed that many of their subscribers would be interested in watching black-oriented shows.

“BET was a business opportunity waiting for someone to put it together,” says Johnson. It might have only begun as a few hours of programming, but it soon expanded into a full-fledged cable station, offering music videos, comedy and religious shows, and college sports – all targeted to an audience that had as of yet gone unnoticed by the previous broadcasters.

Eleven years after its initial launch, BET became the first black-owned company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Today, BET has three spinoff channels and is the largest black-owned cable company in history. Johnson bought back all the BET stock seven years after it went public for $1 billion. He then sold it to media giant Viacom two years later for $3 billion, in a move that pocketed Johnson $1.8 billion.

Although he stayed on as the head honcho at BET, he retired in 2005. Now, he focuses his time on his new company, RLJ Development. Under this umbrella, he has created the largest black-owned hotel company, controlling over 100 Marriott franchises. He also purchased the Charlotte Bobcats for $300 million. In 2006, Johnson also became a founding partner of OurStories, an African American film company.

Related Articles

  Lesson #4: Every Opportunity is Yours for the Taking
  Music to his Ears: How Johnson Brought BET to the Big Leagues
  Turning the Magic On: How Johnson Built an Empire
  Lesson #1: Don’t Get Mad, Get Even
  Lesson #5: Communicate Success
  Lesson #4: A Great Businessman is Only as Great as His Vision
  Lesson #3: Make Sure You Are Not Missing the Market
  Lesson #4: Master the Art of the Sale
  Lesson #2: A Good Rebound Can Come from a Bad Misstep
  Lesson #2: There Is Nothing Wrong With Being Cheap
  Lesson #1: Work Hard and Plan for Your Dreams
  Making Magic: Johnson Heats Things Up Off the Court
  A Man of Firsts: How Johnson Achieved Success
  A Champion is Born: The Early Years of Earvin “Magic” Johnson
  Lesson #5: Do What Cannot Be Done
  Lesson #1: Do Not Look at Things in Only Black and White
  The Billion Dollar Brains Behind BET: Robert Johnson is Born
  Finish Strong
  Lesson #3: Go After Customers both New and Old
  Lesson #2: Reflect Your Market

Related Forum Posts

Re: New Video - Should I Get A Job Or Start A Business?
Promoting Software On A Shoestring Budget
Re: looking for experienced affiliate feedback
Re: Quote of the Day - John Johnson
Finding creativity

Share this article. Fund someone's dream.

Share this post and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet