BET bans Ciara's New Video

Over a decade ago, BET reached an all-new low when it was sold to the white-owned Viacom, Inc. For years, the black community was disappointed in what they saw from the network. The only saving grace for BET was the fact of them being black-owned. Still, 90% of the programming on the network was music videos. Not any music videos, but hip hop music videos featuring half-naked women.

For the first time in the history of the network, the black community struck back and they did so in the worst way. Nearly every day, the founder, Bob Johnson, had to speak with the public about the way he ran his company. Even after he sold, BET he remained in full control of the network until 2006. The year after Johnson left, an outright protest began against the network.

In the time since their backlash of 2007, BET has been working hard to rid themselves of the negative images. The network still relies on music videos, but it is no longer the fixture of the network. Now, the videos shown on the network are more sensible. Network CEO, Debra Lee, has been working hard to change the image of BET. Instead of being a place where women are used as eye candy, she wants her network to be a place where women are respected and treated as equals.

Ever since she burst onto the scene late in the summer of 2004, Ciara has been a fixture on the BET network with her music videos. Throughout her career, Ciara knew her songs that did not do well on the radio, on other channels, such as MTV, and on Billboard would do well with BET. Had it not been for BET, a lot of her music would have never been played. Preparing to release her new album, Ciara turned to the network, once again with the promotion of her new album, Basic Instinct. The first single from the video is "Ride" featuring Ludacris. Last month the video was released and landed on BET.

Upon arriving on BET, they quickly banned the video because of the sexual content. Ciara said she knew the video had sexual content, but she also knew BET shows other videos with similar content. Despite what has happened, Ciara said she is not upset with BET. Instead, she hopes to reach some sort of deal with the network to eventually have the video air on the network. But, with the network trying to shift away from videos, such as Ciara's "Ride," the chances of that happening are very slim.