Nicholas Charles Named Vice President of Content for BET Interactive

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- BET Networks announced today that Nicholas Charles has been appointed Vice President of Content for BET Interactive. Charles will report to Denmark West, President, BET Digital Media, and will be based in New York. He will be responsible for day-to-day editorial activities for BET.com, across content areas including news, entertainment, lifestyle and health. He will also guide BET Digital's efforts around community.

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"I'm very excited to bring Nick on board," said West. "He brings a wealth of experience as a journalist, active member of the community and a Web-savvy programmer. With the addition of Nick Charles, we will build upon recent momentum to reach and engage even more of our audience to cement our current #1 status among African-American entertainment destinations."

Prior to joining BET, Charles was Editor-in-Chief of AOL Black Voices, a website for Black culture, news and information, from August 2005 to July 2007. He was responsible for directing and managing the site, improving and expanding editorial content across all areas, including news, entertainment, lifestyle, sports, finance, education and community. He also developed interactive blogs for community engagement and established content partnerships with new providers, including http://www.sundancechannel.org/ , http://www.blackdoctor.org/ , http://www.blackenterprise.com/, American Black Film Festival and the NAACP.

Before joining AOL Black Voices, Charles worked in the Office of the Manhattan Borough President from September 2004 to July 2005, first serving as Director of Communications and then as Press Secretary/Spokesperson. Charles began his career as a journalist and worked at several publications, including the culture/lifestyle magazine FORWARD, People, New York Daily News, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Emerge and Newsday,

Charles received a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and philosophy from New York University, and a Master of Science degree in international affairs from The New School University. He serves on the National Advisory Board for the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism, is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and is on the Knight-Batten Advisory Board.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. , 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 85 million households according to Nielsen Media Research, and can be seen in the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of businesses extensions: BET.com, a leading internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; BET Digital Networks - BET J, BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, a service venture into the lucrative world of ringtones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, an extension of BET network programming for global distribution.