Attacking the 'digital divide'? You BET!
- By Maria Seminerio, ZDNN, August
12, 1999 5:20 PM PT
Producer of Black Entertainment Television network to launch BET.com Web portal
this fall as a 'key resource' for African-Americans.
Bob Johnson believes African-Americans
have yet to take to the Web in huge numbers because no one's providing the information
they want. "It's not so much a 'digital divide' as a mindset divide," Johnson,
the CEO of BET Holdings Inc., producer of the Black Entertainment Television cable
network, told ZDNN.
The divide will narrow, he said, when it becomes clear to blacks that Web
content producers want their patronage.
Closing the great divide
Earlier Thursday, BET Holdings said it will launch a portal site offering news,
entertainment, financial information, and e-commerce opportunities targeted specifically
at the black community.
The BET.com portal, to go live in November, has already received a $35 million
investment boost from media giants including Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Ltd. (NYSE:NWS) and
Barry Diller's USA Networks Inc. (Nasdaq:USAI), plus
high-tech giants such as Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT) and
AT&T (NYSE:T).
But specifics of the site's offerings are still being worked out, Johnson said.
BET Holdings will conduct a "major survey" of African-Americans to
determine what kinds of content and services they want, he said. Health care news,
investment tips, parenting advice, and travel planning tools are sure to make the list,
Johnson said.
E-commerce also a focus
E-commerce will also be served. Plans are underway to build an online listing of
small, black-owned retailers across the U.S., allowing the companies to gain national
exposure, he said.
| |
'It's not so much a 'digital divide' as a
mindset divide.'
-- Bob Johnson, CEO of BET Holdings Inc. |
"There are many, many black entrepreneurs" who could benefit from such
an arrangement, Johnson said.
Large national black-owned apparel retailers are also being asked to
participate, he said.
"Foundations, organizations are going to be a part of this audience
aggregation. As we pull more and more customers to the BET.com site ... (it) is going to
be that one place where everyone can go to," Johnson said during a press conference
on the announcement.
Marketing, promo dollars, too
In addition to investing dollars, the corporate partners will provide in-kind
contributions for marketing and promotion.
Johnson declined to say what each partner is contributing specifically to
BET.com, though he said BET Holdings is the controlling partner.
Kweisi Mfume, president of the NAACP, said at the news conference: "One of
the aspects of this we ought not to miss is that this creates a distribution network using
this new technology, and in the process brings a great deal of access."
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