BET's Broadcast of ROOTS Earns Record-Breaking Ratings

Celebrating its 35th anniversary on BET, the historic series ROOTS premiered on BET to a record-breaking 4.1 million viewers. According to the Nielsen Company, the Friday, December 21 ROOTS premiere to the network is now the #1 ROOTS performance in cable history and among the month's top 10 ad-supported weeknight primetime cable specials for adults 18-49.

The 8:00 p.m.* premiere of ROOTS PART ONE on BET averaged 1.2 million viewers among 823,000 households, garnering a solid .90 household coverage rating. ROOTS PART TWO, which premiered at 10:30 p.m.,* averaged 1.3 million viewers among 875,000 households garnering a 1.0 coverage rating making it December's #1 weeknight primetime cable special among black adults 18-34. ROOTS PART TWO was also the #1 telecast in December on BET. The ROOTS franchise enjoyed triple digit gains within its time slot.

*All times EST.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa.

BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and Production Company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

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