The 2019 BET Awards to leave Los Angeles for Atlanta or Las Vegas
The 2019 BET Awards to leave
Los Angeles for Atlanta or L
The BET Awards drew some 4.3 million viewers
across eight Viacom networks to its June 24
broadcast, landing the No. 1 cable awards show
spot for the fourth consecutive year. Held at the
Microsoft Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, the
show featured performances by Migos, Nicki
Minaj, Jay Rock, Janelle Monae and Meek Mill
with Miguel. During the broadcast, the BET
Awards dominated Twitter with 9 out of the top
10 trending topics. Social media engagement
peaked during Meek Mill’s performance with
Miguel.
The 18th edition of the BET Awards followed the
annual weekend-long BET Experience, which
brought together artists, sports stars, industry
professionals and fans to events all over the city.
But with the network’s contract with AEG, which
owns and operates the Microsoft as well as
Staples Center, up this year, as reported by
Fortune, what does that mean for future BET
Awards?
“BET and AEG executives are reviewing the 2018
BET Experience weekend and will begin
discussing a contract extension for the 2019
event in the near future,” says a rep for the
network in a statement to Variety .
Still, while it looks unlikely that BET would make
a move for 2019, talk of a new host city, possibly
Atlanta or Las Vegas, has the industry buzzing.
Atlanta in particular seems an apt fit considering
the success of the locally-based Quality Control,
which is home to Migos, Rich the Kid and Lil
Yachty. Vegas, meanwhile, is playing host to
residencies by French Montana, Travis Scott,
Gucci Mane and DJ Khaled and has featured
high-profile gigs by Kendrick Lamar and Future.
“We have five hip-hop residencies between our
two venues,” says Deb Fass, director of
entertainment marketing at the Tao Group,
whose Las Vegas properties include the Tao
nightclub, beach and restaurant, Lavo, and the
Marquee brand of nightclubs and dayclubs. “I
think award shows do great in Vegas. It’s the
center of hospitality in the country, so you have
tons of dining and nightlife and hotels. It makes
sense.”
Moreover, adds Fass, “These artists are all there
weekly. They have homes in Vegas. Hip-hop is
really ingrained in the city now. It’s become part
of the culture in Vegas, where it wasn’t for quite
some time.”
That’s not the case with Atlanta, which isn’t just
the base for Quality Control and hitmakers like
Mike Will Made It, but has traditionally seen a
robust R&B and hip-hop scene, from TLC and
Usher to Outkast and Goodie Mob. “There are
few cities that have a richer history than Atlanta
when we are talking about music,” says Jonny
Shipes of Cinematic Music Group, whose clients
include rappers Wale and Joey Bada$$. “So
many pillars of the culture have come out of
there, from Dungeon Family to the Migos.
Hosting the BET awards in ATL would be perfect
celebration of excellence, legacy and of course,
fun.”
The Grammys switched host cities from Los
Angeles to New York for its 2018 edition, and the
MTV Video Music Awards have tried various
venues over the years, to varying degrees of
success. But the BET Awards have for the last
17 years been held in Los Angeles. Only once, for
its debut in 2001, was it held elsewhere: at the
Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. Says Fass: “I think it’s
exciting for these awards [shows] to change
cities and not get stale.”
Vegas certainly has experience with awards
shows, hosting the Billboard Music Awards
annually as well as the Academy of Country
Music honors. Atlanta is newer to the awards
show scene, though it’s worth noting that BMI,
the performance rights organization representing
songwriters and artists, moved its BMI R&B/Hip-
Hop Awards to Atlanta starting in 2017. It
returns to the city on Aug. 30.
