Robert Johnson
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Notes
In the summer of 1991, Johnson staged a brief boycott of MCA Records artists after MTV garnered exclusive rights to air the videos of MCA rap group Heavy D and the Boyz. Record industry publicist Ramon Hervey notes that "If it were not for BET, a lot of artists would not have had any [video] exposure....MTV has never really played much black music, until recently. I'm surprised that Bob Johnson didn't take a harsher stand earlier." Johnson, though, notes that, despite the competition for music videos, "we have an advantage because BET's been there for black artists for a long time". --From LOS ANGELES TIMES, August 19, 1991
Johnson is the Director to Cable TV Advertisement Bureau.
Biography
Cable TV executive who in 1980 founded Black Entertainment TV (BET), the only black-owned and oriented national cable channel, with $15,000 of his own money and a $500,000 investment from cable giant Tele-Communications Inc. Despite a rocky history, the network, which features many music videos by African-American performers, college sports, movies, news and talk shows, has adopted a 24-hour format and Johnson has gradually seen its modest ratings increase. Unafraid to confront MTV with its domination of airing rights to black music videos, Johnson has also worked to produce original TV dramas and celebrity shows for his network and continues to explore the growing realm of pay-per-view TV.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cinematography (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Editing (Feature Film)
Music (Feature Film)
Sound (Feature Film)
Film Production - Main (Feature Film)
Location Scout (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Misc. Crew (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Producer (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Life Events
1972
Worked in the public affairs office of Princeton University
1973
Served as press secretary to the Honorable Walter E. Fauntroy, Congressional delegate from the District of Columbia
1980
Founder and president of cable channel Black Entertainment TV (BET)
1980
Founder and president of District Cablevision Inc.
1991
Oversaw the broadcast of his first cable pay-per-view effort, a James Brown concert
1991
Partner of actor-producer Tim Reid in United Image Entertainment
Family
Companions
Bibliography
Notes
In the summer of 1991, Johnson staged a brief boycott of MCA Records artists after MTV garnered exclusive rights to air the videos of MCA rap group Heavy D and the Boyz. Record industry publicist Ramon Hervey notes that "If it were not for BET, a lot of artists would not have had any [video] exposure....MTV has never really played much black music, until recently. I'm surprised that Bob Johnson didn't take a harsher stand earlier." Johnson, though, notes that, despite the competition for music videos, "we have an advantage because BET's been there for black artists for a long time". --From LOS ANGELES TIMES, August 19, 1991
Johnson is the Director to Cable TV Advertisement Bureau.
He is the recipient of the President's Award from the National Cable Association (1982)
He is also a recipient of the Image Award from the NAACP (1982)
Johnson is a member of the advisory council College Communication
He was elected director of Liberty Media Corp., a cable company (1991)
