LOS ANGELES — The 3.5-hour telecast of the BET Awards, hosted by Chris Tucker and featuring Nicki Minaj, Chris Brown and Erykah Badu among others, capped the inaugural BET Experience, a three-day urban music event organized by collaborators AEG and BET that was nearly two years in the making.
Along with the live telecast, the weekend included sold-out concerts featuring Beyoncé, the Roots, R. Kelly and others along with comedy shows, a film festival and other gathering including wellness seminars and an outdoor fan expo, all taking place within and just outside LA Live venues.
The event differed from the one-price, multiple-performance business model of other big destination festivals such as Coachella and Electric Daisy with packages that gave fans a broader range of admission and pricing options.
The Beyoncé concert in Staples Center, on the festival’s opening day, June 28, coincided with the launch of the U.S. leg of the artist’s “Mrs. Carter Show World Tour.”
