BET suspends Hip Hop and Soul Train Awards

The decision was confirmed by BET CEO Scott Mills, who told Billboard that the network is exploring new directions for its awards programming.

“So for BET linear, we have suspended the Soul Train and Hip-Hop award shows,” Mills said. “But we have a team that’s actively thinking about where those award shows might best live as the media climate continues to evolve. They aren’t gone. And we also still have the NAACP Image Awards and the Stellar Awards.”

Mills said the shows are not being permanently cancelled, but rather put on hold while the network considers how to adapt them to suit modern viewing habits.

“It’s less about them being no longer and more about our team having to re-imagine them for this changing media landscape that we find ourselves in,” he said. “I think what we’re going to see are more people taking franchises and saying, ‘This might have started on linear television, but now I’m going to move it to another space. Do I move it to streaming? Or do I move it to another platform?’”

The Soul Train Awards, first held in 1987, and the BET Hip-Hop Awards, launched in 2006, have both played a significant role in celebrating Black music and culture over the years. The flagship BET Awards, however, remains active and recently marked its 25th anniversary.

In addition to the awards shake-up, BET is also rebranding its iconic music countdown show “106 & Park” as “106 & Sports” in collaboration with SpringHill Entertainment, the media company co-founded by LeBron James.

“Everybody is working feverishly to get it ready to launch in the fall. We’re going to start with a weekly show at that point with lots of wonderful guests,” Mills said, adding that while music continues to be central to BET’s identity, sports have become “an integral part of the culture.”

The restructuring comes as Paramount Global, BET’s parent company, explores the network’s future. In 2023, Paramount reportedly put BET up for sale with a valuation between $1.6 and $1.7 billion. Potential buyers at the time included media executives Byron Allen, Sean “Diddy” Combs, and filmmaker Tyler Perry.

Scott Mills, who joined BET in 1997 and became its CEO in 2021, was also among those reportedly offered the opportunity to buy the network.