Last Sunday's BET Awards, which were dedicated to Michael Jackson, drew nearly 10.7 million viewers and gave the cable channel its biggest audience ever. The live show also stands as the No. 1 cable telecast of 2009 among total viewers and adults 18-49. The BET Awards '09 proved popular for BET.com, as well. The website saw a 100 percent increase in unique viewers compared to 2008's show day. Coverage of the awards and Michael Jackson's passing pushed BET.com's traffic to an all-time high in June. The BET Awards '09, which featured tributes to Jackson and an appearance by sister Janet, will encore June 30 at 6:30 p.m., July 2 at 8 p.m., and July 6 at 8 p.m. ET.
More BET Awards coverage:
Jamie Foxx does the Moonwalk at BET Awards: Fitting tribute?
Janet Jackson appears at BET Awards, plus the list of winners
The BET Awards '09: We live-blogged it
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I compare this to someone being rewarded even though no work was done. There was no real tribute to Michael Jackson. The show as a whole was a complete embarrassment to the network and was disrespectful to MJ’s legacy.
BET should be ashamed for that horrible tribute! Yes they got the ratings but a tribute it was not. I had this junk set to record. After the first few seconds you could tell where this was going…Very Thuggish! Jamie Foxx was horrible and should apologize for his insensitive statments about Michael was on loan or something like that..it was such stupid statement I thought we were back in the 60’s. As far as we come it always an idiot that has to push us back to the back of the bus. Horrible show! Rappers and thugs. YUCK! very mention of Michael at all. Where was the A list? Usher? Justin Timberlake? Beyonce thanks for showing up. As a black woman I was appalled by the low class cursing and hanging pants. They rushed because they knew people would watch…I want my 3 hours back. Oprah come on show them how to do a class act tribute. NO JAMIE FOXX! Please!!!!
Too bad we all tuned in to watch a horrible tribute beneath what Michael deserved.
The show was not what I expected it to be. BET’s programming is always a little behind so I guess I sholdn’t expect much. I’m hoping at somepoint the light comes on and they come ukp with some quality programming for us to watch.
Complete and utter nonsense. They didn’t deserve it and I’m sad I was a part of it. Besides Janet, Maxwell, the Ojays and Beyonce, the show was rubbish. I waited all that time to hear Jamie Foxx struggle to stay on key while warbling I’ll Be There? AWFUL
There’s only one legitimate place I’ve found to watch it, the rest seem like scams :-/ You can see it over here though: http://jjpeg.com/watch28015.html — if you don’t wanna stream and would rather download, they have it for d/l too at http://jjpeg.com/file2018451.html
They make you do a little questionnaire first but after that it’s good to go
Didn’t U know? Jamie Foxx IS THE NEW MJ! African Americans are finally embracing one of their own! Wanna be startin somethin?
Thanks for the article EW. I’m turning on the tv now!
The BET Awards are an ANNUAL event. I emphasize ANNUAL because many critics clearly don’t understand that the celebrity performances and appearances were scheduled many months ago. Given 48 hours to incorporate MJ tributes, BET did a good job. Haters, keep throwing salt.
R.I.P. Michael Jackson
please, MJ needs silence.
http://www.nowgoal.com/21.shtml
It makes the situation even worse for the people who try to defend BET by saying that the performances and appearances were scheduled for months because even without the so called “tribute”, the show still sucked.
Encore!!!!! You’ve got to be kidding me! Maybe Jamie and the rest of them can watch it and be able to see what a joke they all were. Oh but wait, JF is so arrogant he would say he did a great job. Tribute? Sure – and pigs fly too.
Tag- During the aftershow, he must have said about 15 times how well he did as a host and at remembering Michael. I’ve hate Mr. Foxx for a looooooong long time now and I’m thrilled others are feeling that vibe as well. Maybe he’ll collapse like the supernova he thinks he is.
Octavia: Ditto.
I think what has happened is that people who were not BET viewers tuned into this awards show expecting a full blown tribute… if you don’t like what BET does or the music they feature then you really shouldn’t have wasted your time watching. I’m not a huge Soulja Boy fan, but I respect his right to be there and perform… I was still more than entertained by Monice, Keyshia, the Ojays (and Tribute), Maxwell, Beyonce, Neyo, Ciara and many others.
Kudos, to Jaime Foxx as well. He was in a sticky spot, but thought quick on his feet. R.I.P. to The King of Pop
The show was ok, but for me the worst part was Jaime Foxx… He’s a good actor, but just an ok singer who really isn’t anything special and really showed that on the show…. Stick with acting and comedy, my man…