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Paramount Skydance is pulling the plug on BET+, the six-year-old streaming service built around Black storytelling, and folding its entire content library into Paramount+ beginning this June. As part of the transition, Paramount has acquired Tyler Perry Studios' minority equity stake in BET+, clearing one of the last structural hurdles to a full merger.
BET+ currently has around 3.5 million subscribers, while Paramount+ counts about 80 million. The gap between those two numbers tells most of the story about why this decision was made.
Financial terms of the Perry buyout were not disclosed, but the stake is believed to be worth in the eight-figure range. Perry had held a 25% ownership share in BET+ tied to a 2019 production deal struck with Paramount. A company spokesperson confirmed he will remain a working partner, saying Perry "will continue to be a valued and important partner through his overall programming agreement." That agreement, signed in 2024, is a nine-figure deal running through 2028. His equity, however, is gone.
BET+ launched in September 2019, just ahead of the merger of BET's then-parent company, Viacom, with CBS to form Paramount Global. The platform quickly built itself into a hub for original series, films, and classic programming centered on Black storytelling. Subscribers currently pay $5.99 a month with ads or $9.99 without them.
The shutdown follows Paramount Global's August 2025 acquisition by Skydance, after which new CEO David Ellison signaled the consolidation of Paramount+, BET+, and the AVOD platform Pluto TV onto a single shared technology infrastructure. Friday's announcement is the most visible execution of that strategy so far.
BET Networks president Louis Carr broke the news internally in a staff memo. Carr, who took the role after former CEO Scott Mills departed in December, framed the move in expansive terms. "Beginning in June, we are expanding our reach by making Paramount+ the new home for BET+ content," he wrote. "This powerful next step ensures the stories we champion, the creators we support and the culture we represent go further than ever before."
The changeover will bring over roughly 1,000 hours of BET+ programming to Paramount+, including Perry-produced titles like All the Queen's Men and Zatima, as well as The Ms. Pat Show and the critically acclaimed Diarra From Detroit. The content will be organized inside a dedicated "BET Hub" on Paramount+, where Carr said it will be "clearly branded, prominently featured and easy to find."
Not everything at BET is changing. The linear cable channel, BET Studios and BET Digital will all continue to operate as before. Direct BET+ subscribers will be offered a discounted Paramount+ subscription as part of the transition. BET also runs a pair of FAST channels built around Perry's catalog, and those will remain active.
Perry is not disappearing from the picture entirely, but there is a meaningful distinction between a creator with equity and one with a contract. One has a seat at the table. His shows will make the move to Paramount+. His ownership stake will not.
What Paramount gets in exchange is full operational control of a content library it already bankrolled, along with the ability to pitch BET's audience of Black viewers directly through its flagship product rather than through a separate app competing for the same consumer dollar.
The BET+ shutdown adds to a growing list of streaming casualties as Hollywood's major players move away from fragmented portfolios and toward consolidated platforms. Carr, in his memo to staff, closed with a message pointed squarely at morale. "BET remains strong because of you, your creativity, your resilience, and your unwavering belief in the power of our stories."
