BET Networks Taps Blair Underwood To Narrate New Original Series EXALTED

NEW YORK, Oct. 12 -- Actor, producer, author, and director Blair Underwood joins BET as narrator of EXALTED; a ground-breaking, new, weekly series that explores the lives of African American ministers as they prepare their sermons, lead their congregation, and perform weekly ministerial duties while at the same time deal with the challenges of everyday life. Following BET's popular SUNDAY'S BEST, EXALTED airs Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT.

Underwood has distinguished himself as an award-winning actor who is currently showcasing his multitude of talents in film, literature, television and theatre. In October 2006, Underwood portrayed the voice of "Jesus" in the highly anticipated audio version of the Bible, aptly titled, "The Bible Experience". Underwood is especially close to the EXALTED project since he is also a member of the Faithful Central Bible Church in Inglewood, California, which is pastored by Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer who is featured in the October 16 episode of EXALTED.

-- Bishop Kenneth C. Ulmer

Faithful Central Bible Church (Inglewood, California) / premieres October 16, 2007

As leader of one of Southern California's largest and fastest growing churches, Bishop Kenneth Ulmer is pastor to more than fifteen thousand followers. BET's EXALTED travels with him back to his hometown where he reminisces about his first experiences with racism and his loving relationship with his father. Ulmer also gives viewers a tour of Hollywood Blvd. as he shares the early struggles with his "demons" of divorce, depression and pornography prior to the acceptance of his call to ministry.

Encore presentations of EXALTED can be seen Sundays at Noon ET/PT. EXALTED was created by executive producers D'Angela Steed and Nia Hill and co- executive producer, Adriane Hopper for Strange Fruit Films, LLC.

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a division of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), 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 87 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.

SOURCE BET Networks
http://www.bet.com/