The network has offices in New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, and Los Angeles, and is available throughout the United States, Canada, and France. Originally created in 1980 as a Nickelodeon programming block, BET occupied its own channel with 24-hour programming in 1983.
It is owned by Viacom, and has several sister networks dedicated singularly to the broadcasting of music videos, such as BET Gospel, BET Hip Hop, BET Jams, and BET Soul. BET, or Black Entertainment Television, is an American cable and satellite access show.
