NEW YORK, July 9, 2013 — Today BET Digital, the interactive arm of BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) launches a redesigned BET.com homepage giving readers a unified experience across desktop computers, mobile and tablet platforms. On the heels of breaking an all-time single day record, drawing in more visitors than ever before in the history of the website, BET.com’s new design features a fully responsive design across all electronic devices, increased social media integration, in-line advertising and striking visual designs.

“BET.com fans are passionate about our content and everything that affects and touches our community. The new site design elevates our user’s top quality expectations and upgrades their online video experience.” said Martez Moore, Executive Vice President of Digital Media, BET Networks. “We’ve seen heightened levels of engagement with our interactive content on multiple screens and the newly designed BET.com home page will continue to extend our incredible social penetration and keep us as the ultimate online destination for African American content.”

When visitors get to BET.com on Tuesday, July 9, they will see site features focused on a unique and user-friendly experience that extends and reflects what’s happening on the network and in pop culture. The site will introduce a new component - “Social Trends,” a countdown of the most relevant trending Twitter topics for our audience and points users to BET.com’s coverage of those topics. Additionally, rolling out in the coming weeks is the dedicated “Shout-Out” wall, #BETShoutOut, which recognizes our audience’s deep social engagement and allows users to leave their personal imprint directly on the home page of BET.com.

Additional elements of the redesigned BET.com home page include:

•    Responsive design — Unsurpassed reach to our users everywhere and anywhere. The responsive page looks its best from any screen size on any device — desktop, tablet or smartphone.

•    New video carousel — Designed to draw the users’ attention without pushing the rest of the content further down the page. Show times prominently displayed on the carousel items to drive tune-in. Hashtags permeate every element in the top carousel — encouraging users to stay connected to our franchises on multiple platforms.
 
•    Interactive social media elements — Increased sharing functions for Twitter and Facebook, as well as the integration of new commenting platform #BETShoutOut.
•    Flexible grid-style layout — Layout emphasizes the timeliness of our content, promotes exploration, and creates an enjoyable user browsing experience of the current happenings on the network, and in African American news, music, and entertainment.
•    Programming schedule — Highlights what’s on TV placed higher on the page, focuses on What’s On Tonight and What’s Coming Soon to connect the user to linear content. Additionally the Now Showing element on the schedule is set to keep viewers up-to-date on our programming in real time.

•    Expanded ad units and advertising opportunities — Integrates inline advertisements in a flexible grid format that keep the user’s attention when browsing our editorial content.

BET.com has seen significant online growth in the last year. Average monthly unique visitors to BET.com are up 45% over the past 6 months compared to the same period last year. (source: comScore)

The launch sponsor for the redesign is Unilever's Clear®.

About BET Digital
BET Digital is the interactive arm of BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B) and the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. BET.com, the sole online destination for BET, is a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news.  Other properties within BET Digital include BET Mobile, which provides apps, ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; BET Video On Demand (VOD), the largest On Demand service providing African-American content; and the BET Vertical Ad Network, the leading advertising network targeting the high quality African-American consumer with more than 150 content publishers.

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