As if you did not already know that. But in the latest example, BET (Black Entertainment Television) showed that they are all about “entertainment”. While other networks that feature Black cultural programming aired the funeral of Coretta Scott King live, BET chose to continue their usual rotation of trash, smut and junk.

It seems to me that the BEsT experience would have been to offer the LIVE feed of the funeral, that was provided FOR FREE. (This article mentions New Birth Missionary Baptist Church made the video available via a pool feed carried by Fox News.) Given BET is now part of Viacom, they have a corporate parent, that can better carry them if times are financially tight for the network. BET has a lot of excuses for this one and the trash rolls on!

This is not the first major funeral that BET failed to cover live. BET, TV One and The Black Family Channel all passed on airing Rosa Park’s funeral live. They all had excuses then, but TV One and The Black Family Channel both found a way to ensure they aired Coretta Scott King’s funeral.

I thought the folks at Viacom said they were going to make BET so much better?…. Seems to me they need to keep working on it! And the list of reasons why I don’t watch BET only grows longer…

update (2/10/2006 3:50PM ET): Booker Rising is reporting that the Black Family Channel will rebroadcast the funeral Sunday, February 12th at 8PM. I’m sure you’ll enjoy it much better if you fast forward past Joseph Lowery and Jimmy Carter.