The Eye: Bet, Image To Jointly Produce Concerts For Video Release

BET GOES TO HOME VIDEO: It's finally happened. BET and sister channel BET on Jazz have teamed with Image Entertainment in an exclusive multi-year agreement to co-produce a series of concerts and then release them on videotape and DVD. Considering that MTV has been in the home video business for years with its "MTV Unplugged" franchise, we think it's about time that BET took this important step in extending its brand name to the videotape/DVD market.
The first series of concerts will feature Chaka Khan, Lou Rawls, Jeffrey Osborne, Bobby Womack, and Mark Whitfield in performances taped at BET's Washington, D.C., studios. The concerts are being televised on BET every Saturday this month and will air in June on BET on Jazz. To coincide with Black Music Month, the videotape/DVD releases are also planned for June.
Under the terms of the agreement, Image will have worldwide home video rights to the series. The tapes and DVDs will have exclusive footage not shown on TV.
With the recent launch of BET's mega-site, BET.com (Billboard, Feb. 19), BET seems poised to increase its profile in the entertainment industry. Next up for the company is its first music conventions in conjunction with Billboard; the Billboard & BET on Jazz Conference & Awards will be held June 7-9 in Washington, D.C. (BET on Jazz will televise the awards show), and the BET/Billboard Hip-Hop Conference will take place Aug. 16-18 in New York.
THIS & THAT: As part of its ongoing plan to converge TV and the Web, MTV will be having an "@ Large" week beginning March 6. Part of the programming will include Webcasts of artists stopping by the MTV studios, plus online voting by viewers to choose up to eight hours a day of programming.
Rob Campanell has exited as executive producer of InterneTV, a Web site that included music video programming. Campanell is now heading the entertainment Web site Blastro.com, which he says will feature music videos. His new E-mail address is robcamp@
blastro.com.
LOCAL SHOW SPOTLIGHT:This issue's spotlight is on the Muskegon Heights, Mich.-based R&B/hip-hop program "Smoove Grooves."
TV affiliates: WGVU-TV Grand Rapids, Mich., and WGVK-TV Kalamazoo, Mich.
Time slot: 12:30 a.m.-1 a.m. late Saturday/early Sunday.
Key staffer: Paul "Allen" Billings, executive producer.
Following are the show's top five videos for the episode that aired Jan. 29:
1. Ideal, "Creep Inn" (Noontime/Virgin).
2. Puff Daddy, "My Best Friend" (Bad Boy/Arista).
3. J-Shin Featuring LaTocha Scott, "One Night Stand" (Slip-N-Slide/Atlantic).
4. Donell Jones Featuring Left Eye, "U Know What's Up" (LaFace/Arista).
5. Dave Hollister, "Can't Stay" (DreamWorks).