The T. Howard Foundation will honor several industry leaders for their commitment to promoting inclusion at its annual Diversity Awards Dinner on April 10 in New York.

The diversity organization, under the event theme “We’re Paying it Forward Together,” will present its Executive Leadership Award to BET Media Group president and CEO Scott Mills, and its Executive Trailblazer Award to Accenture chairman and CEO Julie Sweet, T. Howard said.

Carlsen Resources founder and CEO Ann Carlsen will receive the foundation's Lifetime Achievement Award, while Cablefax editorial director Amy Maclean will receive the organization’s Diversity Advocate Award. 

The fundraising event, hosted by CBS Saturday Morning co-host Michelle Miller, will also present Special Alumni Recognition awards to ABC News producer Jonathan McDougle (Rising Star) and Essence VP of communications Alexandra Ebanks (Career Influencer).

BET senior VP of content strategy Maureen Guthman passed away from uterine sarcoma on November 30. She was 60 years old, according to Legacy.com.

The Hunter College graduate and longtime Viacom executive had served as BET’s senior VP of content strategy since 2015. Guthman also held programming positions at VH1 and TV One. 

In an internal staff memo, BET Media Group President Scott Mills said of Guthman: "I've not worked with a warmer, more thoughtful, caring, considerate and sensitive person than Maureen. In the company's most challenging times, she worked her scheduling magic not only to keep us afloat but keep us winning. She took pride in leading with compassion, and her amazing team reflects her remarkable impact. She rooted for BET and our people like no other."

Scott also reflected on Guthman's work ethic, saying that with her leading the charge, "BET secured several groundbreaking acquisitions that spoke to the authenticity of our culture. In her longstanding career in the television industry, Maureen brokered more than 250 deals with one sole mission: to give women and Black Americans an opportunity to see themselves in ways that television has long ignored." ■

BET Media Group will take over the operations of cable network VH1 as parent Paramount Global looks to continue its business transformation, according to a company memo from Paramount Global president and CEO Bob Bakish obtained by Multichannel News.

The 37-year-old VH1, which initially launched as a music video service but is now home to unscripted reality programming — including the Emmy-winning competition show RuPaul's Drag Race — will be folded into the BET Media Group, led by Scott Mills, which also includes networks BET, BET Plus, BET Studios, BET Her and BET Digital, according to the memo.

The move to the African-American-targeted BET Media Group makes synergistic sense given that VH1 draws a strong African-American viewership with such shows as the Love & Hip Hop and Black Ink Crew franchises, the memo said.

Also: Plunging Paramount Defends Streaming Strategy

“This strategic alignment will ensure that VH1 — a leader in multi-cultural programming and the second-largest U.S. cable network for Black viewership — is best positioned for future success as a key part of the powerful BET ecosystem under the leadership of Scott Mills,” Bakish said in the memo.

The alignment will allow the BET Media Group to “build an interconnected set of leading platforms — linear, streaming, digital and studios — centered around the Black community, Black culture and content.”

The move follows the October folding of premium network Showtime into the Paramount Media Networks Group under group CEO Chris McCarthy.

The full Bob Bakish memo reads as follows:

Team,

"As we take further steps to accelerate the transformation of our business and maximize the full strength of Paramount, I’m excited to share that VH1 will move into the BET Media Group, which includes BET, BET+, BET Studios and BET Digital.

This strategic alignment will ensure that VH1 − a leader in multi-cultural programming and the second largest U.S. cable network for Black viewership − is best positioned for future success as a key part of the powerful BET ecosystem under the leadership of Scott Mills.

Scott and his team continue to drive the evolution and growth of BET by building an interconnected set of leading platforms – linear, streaming, digital and studios – centered around the Black Community, Black Culture and Content.  Their ability to create hit programming and experiences, invest in new talent and storytellers, leverage our capabilities in streaming and original production, and expand and deepen relationships with key commercial partners make them ideally suited to take on this brand and business.

I’d also like to recognize the MTV Entertainment Studios team under the leadership of Chris McCarthy and Nina L. Diaz, who, for the past five years, have rebuilt the VH1 brand and produced powerful hit franchises from Black Ink Crew and Love & Hip Hop to RuPaul’s Drag Race. Their work has helped VH1 score nearly 40 Emmy Awards while establishing it as an industry champion in driving diversity both in front of the camera and behind the screens.  As Chris and his team continue to focus on integrating SHOWTIME and globalizing the Media Networks Group, they’ll also partner with the BET teams to continue producing several of the existing hit shows on VH1.

We are working through the details of that transition now and will share updates as we have them. In the meantime, as we look forward to this successful next chapter of VH1, please join me in congratulating Scott and the BET organization, and thanking Chris and the MTV Entertainment team for their ongoing contributions." ■

ViacomCBS said it promoted Scott Mills to CEO of its BET unit, which provides content for African-American viewers.

Mills had been president and has been running BET since Debra Lee stepped down as chairman and CEO in 2018.

“Under Scott's leadership, BET has reached new heights with continued commercial success and profound cultural impact during a period of immense industry and social change," ViacomCBS CEO Bob Bakish said in a statement. "Scott has been instrumental in the expansion of the BET brand as the premier destination for Black entertainment and top talent, and he has spearheaded transformative initiatives that not only give back to the community but also play a critical role in representation in front of and behind the camera. BET is a source of inspiration and pride across the company, and I'm excited for BET's strong future ahead with Scott at the helm.”

Mills helped expand BET from its cable channel legacy to a multi-platform programmer with subscription streaming service BET Plus and BET Studios. 

"BET is uniquely positioned to thrive at the intersection of content, community, and culture," said Mills. "Through the power of the BET brand, our incredible team and great partners, we've established leading business franchises across linear, streaming, digital, and most recently, content development and distribution. It is an extraordinary privilege to steward such a culturally significant brand with an enormous legacy as a catalyst for change. As CEO, I look forward to working with my immensely talented BET colleagues and our great partners to ensure that BET continues to thrive and remains ideally positioned to succeed in the ever-changing media landscape."

Also: BET's Scott Mills on Providing a Platform For Change 

Million joined BET in 1997 as senior VP of business development. He held a number of more senior positions before becoming executive VP and chief administrative officer at Viacom. He returned to BET as president, overseeing its day-to-day operations including programming, ad sales and digital. 

TV programming veteran Traci Blackwell is leaving her position as BET Networks EVP of scripted programming, the network has confirmed.

Blackwell joined BET in 2019 and oversaw the African-American targeted network’s original scripted programming functions, including development and casting. Under Blackwell's tutelage, the network offers 14 scripted series alone across platforms, including Lena Waithe's Twenties, Tyler Perry's Sistas, Will Packer's Bigger and Tracy Oliver's First Wives Club.

Read also: BET Sets June Date for 'Sistas' Season Three Premiere

Prior to BET, Blackwell worked at the CW where she most recently served as senior vice president of current programs for the network. 

The network said it will announce a new scripted leadership team shortly. 

BET Networks President Scott Mills announced Blackwell's departure in an internal memo Tuesday lauding Blackwell's leadership, especially during the pandemic.

"Traci has done fantastic work leading BET’s Scripted Programming team during one of the most challenging periods in production history – the COVID-19 pandemic," he said. "We have been tremendously fortunate to have had her leadership, and we are grateful that she leaves us very well positioned for the future."

Blackwell in a memo thanked Mills and BET for the opportunity to lead the network's programming operations. "I am very appreciative to Scott for the incredible opportunity to lead Team Scripted as we worked to produce an unprecedented amount of scripted content for the BET brand," she said. "Being in the trenches with such amazing people who showed up daily and who I have had the privilege to also learn from, has been the most remarkable part of this journey."

In a recent Multichannel News interview, Blackwell talked about the challenges of developing successful original programming in a very crowded television environment.

“You really have to rely on really great storytellers and continue to work with excellent producers and push the content out there, but it is very challenging,” she said. “We are all working on a lot of the same things on different platforms and it’s tricky -- it’s quite the challenge for everybody.“ 

Below is the full text of Mills' memo: 

Our friend and colleague, Traci Blackwell, will be leaving BET this month. Traci has done fantastic work leading BET’s Scripted Programming Team during one of the most challenging periods in production history – the COVID-19 pandemic. 

And, a lesser known fact is that BET leads the industry in the creation of Black scripted content by volume—in fact, we’ve brought forth 14 scripted series in 2021 alone; including series from Tyler Perry, Will Packer, Tracy Oliver, Lena Waithe, Tracey Edmonds, Carl Weber and more.  Never before has BET commissioned this many scripted series.

The only thing more impressive than the volume of series the team has delivered, is the incredible quality of each series.  We salute Traci and our team of incredibly creative professionals for this remarkable contribution to BET and the industry at large.

We have been tremendously fortunate to have had her leadership, and we are grateful that she leaves us very well positioned for the future.

We will be announcing new leadership of the scripted team shortly. In the meantime, please see a personal message from Traci below.

Please join me in thanking Traci for the profound impact she leaves on our brand and wishing her even more success in her next endeavors, while we lend our full support to our Scripted team members throughout this transition.

Blackwell's comments appear below:

During my time here, I’ve been blessed to work alongside the most amazing colleagues and team. I am very appreciative to Scott for the incredible opportunity to lead Team Scripted as we worked to produce an unprecedented amount of scripted content for the BET brand. While 2020 and Covid-19 proved to be challenging, to say the least, the BET family worked tirelessly and selflessly. Being in the trenches with such amazing people who showed up daily and who I have had the privilege to also learn from, has been the most remarkable part of this journey. To my team: You are the ABSOLUTE BEST!! I am proud of the impact we’ve made on our talent partners and thankful to have worked with some of the most inspiring creators and executives in our business.  I want to thank all of the many departments and their leaders across the BET house for your unyielding support of the scripted team and the culture to which we all serve with gratitude and honor. I salute you and wish you all good things in the future.
 

The protests over the killing of George Floyd while in police custody have gripped the country and dominated TV news reports for weeks. Support for the African-
American community and calls for an end to systematic racism have come from all corners of the entertainment world through actions such as ViacomCBS’s 8-minute, 46-second blackout across all of its channels on June 1, signifying the time Floyd was pinned to the ground by a white Minneapolis police officer with a knee on his neck.

BET Networks president Scott Mills recently spoke with Multichannel News to address the issues of police brutality and racial inequity facing the country and the role of the ViacomCBS-owned outlet, and the media in general, in providing a voice for African Americans and a platform to advocate for change. Here’s an edited transcript of that conversation.

MCN: Over the years we’ve both seen protests over incidents of police brutality targeted at African-Americans, but George Floyd’s death and the subsequent protests seem different. Why?

Scott Mills: I think it’s a fabulous question because I’ve been focused on that a lot myself and I think it’s a series of things. Part of me actually wonders if part of why society is responding to this differently has something to do with COVID-19. I think COVID-19 forced a lot of people to take a more human perspective on things and to think more about vulnerabilities, frailties, equity, inequality and disparities.

Coming out of that broad context, this extraordinary drumbeat of shockingly egregious murders that have been occurring recently has really influenced the way people have responded. We all know that the protests and the marches are a significant part of people wanting justice for injustices that have been perpetrated. But I also think they’re materially about people saying, ‘We want change.’ We’re seeing people act with such brazen impunity, and that leadership is completely absent on these issues. I think we’re seeing more people being more sensitive to the injustices that are perpetrated upon our community.

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MCN: Does the renewed discussion about the need for more diverse voices and representation within the media echo throughout the cable industry, even as distributors cut back their channel lineups?

SM: I think what we’re experiencing is a furthering affirmation of the importance of BET and scaled diverse media platforms. If you don’t have scale, you can program as much and as long as you want, but if you’re not reaching a large enough audience your message isn’t getting out there, and you may not have the standing to convene the people that you really need to convene. An example of that is BET’s securing of $17 million of commitments to COVID-19 relief efforts through [the April 22 special Saving Our Selves]. That was about BET using all of its resources and assets and extraordinary relationships with talent and advertisers. It’s not clear to me that but for BET, could any other platform have functioned at the scale we did that could get you to $17 million? We take that responsibility extraordinarily seriously.

MCN: How does BET take on the responsibility of not only bringing light to these injustices, but helping to facilitate change going forward?

SM: We understood that one of the important things was creating a platform that afforded African-American leaders the ability to communicate their views and perspectives around what was happening, why it was happening, what the failings were and what a course for a correction was. We sought to not have African-American leaders scattered across a bunch of different networks, but to be able to come together in a single place and speak to the African-American community. We’ve been able to do that with our news special Justice Now: A BET Town Hall, where we had the voices of leaders from the activist community, the political community in the political space and from the entertainment community.

RELATED: Enough Is Enough

The second thing was this understanding that what we’re seeing on the streets is a function of people’s fear, anger, grief and anxiety. Our view was that we would have to create a safe outlet for that. We have to give people an opportunity to have a voice, to express their rage, to express their grief, to engage in community, as we did through our virtual town hall special.

The thing that we are particularly excited about is that we’ve invited President Donald Trump and presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden to come to BET and tell our community what they’re prepared to do in a presidential forum on Juneteenth, June 19. It’s not a debate — they wouldn’t be speaking simultaneously — but a presidential forum where they will have the ability to speak to BET’s audience … We think the opportunity for our community to hear from each of them is going to be an important catalyst for how people think about the election in November.

MCN: Has ViacomCBS been on board with everything that BET has and will continue to do with regards to providing a voice for the African-American community?

SM: So far everybody’s like, ‘Yeah, you’ve got to do it.’ With the COVID relief effort, we explained that we wanted to go out and raise money for African-Americans because we had this insight before anybody else was talking about it. We knew that African-Americans were going to be disproportionately impacted by the COVID virus. When I said to them that here are the 10 things that we’re doing to address the current crisis, everybody said, ‘Awesome. That’s the role you guys are supposed to be playing.’ So we have really amazing support.

In a significant leadership transition move, BET Networks Chairman and CEO Debra Lee will hand off oversight of the African-American-targeted company to newly named BET Networks President Scott Mills. 

Mills, who is currently executive vice president and chief administrative officer at Viacom, will assume overall strategy and day-to-day operations of BET Networks beginning Jan. 1, including oversight of the brand’s programming, ad sales and digital teams, said network officials.

Lee, who will remain chairman and CEO of the network, will serve as an advisor to Mills and focus on BET’s relationships with key external stakeholders and committees.

“I have spent more than 20 years leading this incredible enterprise and I am so proud of the BET team and all that we have accomplished,” Lee said in a statement. “As I look to the future, I believe it is the right time to take a step back from day-to-day responsibilities at BET. “

Viacom president and CEO Bob Bakish said in a statement that Lee has built BET into a global entertainment powerhouse. “Her vision and leadership, unmatched intuition for what audiences want, and ability to attract and foster top talent – both behind and in front of the camera – have been pivotal to this success,” he said. “We’re grateful that we will continue to benefit from Debi’s experience and insights.”

BET general manager Michael Armstrong will remain in his position where he will oversee multiplatform scheduling, marketing, corporate communications and operations, reporting to Mills.

Mills, who earlier in his career was president and COO for BET Networks, said in a statement: “BET has consistently produced exciting, thought-provoking content, shaping culture and conversation with African Americans and young audiences around the world. I am honored to work alongside Debi, Michael and the incredible team at BET as we accelerate the network’s evolution across film, digital and live experiences.” 

Bakish said of Mills: “Scott is a proven leader who has made exceptional contributions to Viacom and BET for more than 20 years. His strong relationships across the industry – which were instrumental in securing our recent cross-house deal with Tyler Perry – as well as his track record of success initiating innovative creative ventures, including BET Experience, make him the right person for this role, as we continue to extend this brand across platforms and markets around the world.”