BET's exit from Washington D.C. results in 55 layoffs

Story by Washington Business Journal
Written by Drew Hansen

Black Entertainment Television's exit from D.C. is resulting in the layoffs of 55 employees.

The company issued a WARN notice in the District on July 7, the day BET had planned to officially make its move to Viacom Inc.’s central offices in New York City.

The BET Networks, the parent company of the Black Entertainment Television network founded in D.C. in 1979, announced in May it was pulling up stakes on its 1235 W St. NE campus. Viacom purchased BET, founded by Sheila and Robert Johnson, in 2000.

"The closing of BET Network’s Washington, D.C., office has been an ongoing transition in line with our overall strategy to make New York BET’s new headquarters," a BET spokesperson said in a statement issued in May. "We are very proud that Washington, D.C., was the birthplace of BET Networks, the first network and the premier destination for African-American audiences for the past 37 years."

BET retained a real estate brokerage to explore options including selling the W Street property, the spokesperson said.

The move to New York comes after the network canceled its longtime BET Honors awards program, which was held in D.C., most recently at the Howard Theatre, after the 2016 show.

BET CEO Debra Lee put her Massachusetts Avenue Heights neighborhood home on the market in December. It remains listed by Washington Fine Properties LLC for $11.5 million.

The WARN notice says the effective layoff date for the impacted employees will be Sept. 7.