The Premiere of 'CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS' on Sunday, November 29 Garners 4 Million Total Viewers on BET Networks

The CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS Paid Tribute to Music Icons Chaka Khan and Charlie Wilson, and Bestowed the late Michael Jackson with the Entertainer of the Year Award

NEW YORK, Dec 01, 2009 -- The BET premiere of the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS on Sunday, November 29, drew 4.0 Million Total Viewers -- making it the #1 telecast for the fourth quarter in BET History (NMR, Live 11/29).

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Compared to the last airing of the Soul Train Awards in 2007, the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS on BET posted triple digit gains in viewership (+144%) as well as among adults 18-49 (+192%) and ranked as the # 1 Soul Train Awards telecast ever among Adults 18-49 (2.2 MM Adults 18-49). Additionally, the show's ratings exhibited continuous growth every half hour. Moreover, BET and CENTRIC Soul Train Awards-related terms dominated the top 10 trending topics on Twitter on Sunday, November 29.

Hosted by Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard, the CENTRIC special aired on Sunday, November 29 from 9:00-11:00 p.m.*, and honored the outstanding careers of legendary artists Chaka Khan and Charlie Wilson, acknowledged the phenomenal star power of the late Michael Jackson with the special Entertainer of the Year Award, and showcased today's hottest R&B artists with performances by such artists as Erykah Badu, Robin Thicke, Toni Braxton, Keri Hilson, Fantasia, Boyz II Men and Chrisette Michelle, to name a few.

About the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS

CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS marks the return of the classic music awards show, highlighting R&B music's finest, and bridging the gap between the soulful sounds of yesterday, today and tomorrow. With fun-filled skits, dance sequences and hilarious throwbacks to memorable Soul Train moments like the infamous Soul Train scramble board and Soul Train line, it is guaranteed to quickly become a CENTRIC and BET favorite!

Encore telecasts of the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS are set for:

-- Thursday, December 3 on CENTRIC from 8:00-10:00 p.m.* -- Saturday, December 5 on BET from 8:00-10:00 p.m.* -- Saturday, December 5 on CENTRIC from 10:00 p.m.-12:00 a.m.* -- Sunday, December 6 on CENTRIC from 8:00-10:00 p.m.*

The CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS is produced by Sunseeker Media and directed by Manny Rodriguez and Alex Coletti, in collaboration with BET Event Productions. Paxton Baker, CENTRIC Executive Vice President and General Manager; Essie Chambers, CENTRIC Senior Vice President of Programming; Tami Willis-Arasli, CENTRIC Vice President of Production; Bart Phillips, Sunseeker Media; and Soul Train Holdings' Kenard Gibbs, Peter Griffith, and Anthony Maddox are the executive producers of the network telecast.

CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS was sponsored by Toyota, US Census, Cover Girl Queen Collection, 2010 Ford Taurus, McDonalds, Elizabeth Arden -- Usher VIP Fragrance and Cash for Gold.

For a list of winners from the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS, please visit www.bet.com/pr. Viewers can visit BET.com for show highlights, photos and news from the special, and also get up-to-the-minute reactions about the CENTRIC PRESENTS: 2009 SOUL TRAIN AWARDS by following @BET and @CENTRICTV on Twitter (www.twitter.com).

*All times ET/PT

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub- Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

SOURCE BET Networks http://www.bet.com