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Johnson plans to make BET into what marketers call an umbrella brand, under which any number of businesses can shelter. The first BET SoundStage restaurant, a black version of the Hard Rock Cafe, is already a profitable attraction in suburban Washington. The next one opens at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., in May. Johnson says he may open as many as 20 SoundStages around the country, and take the chain public.
Next stop is Las Vegas. Nevada recently granted BET a gaming license. With Hilton as a partner, Johnson plans to open a $200 million SoundStage Hotel and Casino. Hilton will run the operations while BET enlists top black entertainment. There are also MSBET, the company's Website venture with Microsoft; a line of clothing launched in February; and a BET Visa card. Johnson may even try to market home mortgages under the BET brand.
That's assuming he can come up with a deal. Recently News Corp. dropped $1.9 billion to buy properties, including the Family Channel, equivalent to about $21 for each of its 70 million subscribers. If the price tag on BET gets even close to that level, Johnson will discover that the cost of future success is far higher than he imagined.