BET TV said it will release Tyler Perry’s original series to free streaming platforms, SVOD, broadcast, and other platforms as the content goes into syndication on free streaming services.
At the CES 2024 convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, today, BET said it will offer eight original Tyler Perry series for licensing and syndication on third-party platforms, according to Variety. The deal will include 600 hours of his series across 750 episodes, including Tyler Perry’s House of Payne, Sistas, The Oval, Zatima, and All The Queen’s Men.
BET did not respond to a request for the complete list of series. They also did not announce what streaming services the shows would air on.
The network formed a multi-year partnership with Perry in 2017 for the exclusive rights to his series and the production of 90 episodes per year.
This is the first time most of Perry’s series will be available on platforms other than BETT and BET+, the network’s streaming service. BET partnered with Perry in 2017 for the exclusive rights to his original series, which the company attributes to its success as a broadcaster and streamer.
“Every year since his content arrived, BET has driven growth across our ecosystem,” said Scott Mills, president and chief executive officer at BET Media Group. “To date, the Tyler Perry portfolio of content is among the highest-rated programming among Black Americans on television. Our offering of Tyler Perry’s expansive library of hit series will offer third-party platforms a unique opportunity that will increase retention and super-serve viewers like never before.”
Perry’s series comprises the top three series on cable TV among Black audiences and five of the Top 10 shows on cable TV for this demographic. Seven of the Top 10 are BET titles, five of which developed from BET’s partnership with Perry, according to Variety. This past fall, Sistas was BET’s number one show, followed by Zatima and The Oval.
The series spawned multiple spinoff series, largely thanks to Perry’s ability to connect with his audiences.
“There’s this ownership of me from my audience, and it’s been that way since I’ve been on stage,” said Perry in an interview with Variety. “I’m brother, cousin, uncle, husband, friend, to my audience, and we share this kindred relationship. The way that I’m speaking to my audience is the way that I want shows to speak to me. I want to be entertained this kind of way.”
The actor, writer, and director is heavily invested in BET and owns a 25% stake in BET and BET+. Perry made it known he was interested in buying the network when Paramount put it up for sale last year. Perry made a $2 billion bid for the company last summer, $1 billion short of the amount Paramount wanted, and turned it down. Perry grew weary of the bidding process, calling it “disrespectful,” and said he wouldn’t make another bid, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In December, Bryon Allen, owner of The Weather Channel and Local Now, offered $3.5 billion for BET Media Group, which includes BET, BET+, and VH1, a bid up from $2.7 billion he offered Paramount last summer, which was also rejected.