BET Pays Tribute to Michael Jackson's Birthday with a Weekend of Specials Honoring His Life

NEW YORK, Aug. 27 -- BET Networks will honor the memory of Michael Jackson's birthday with a weekend of specials devoted to the King, beginning Thursday, August 27, at 10:00 p.m.* with MICHAEL JACKSON: LIFE OF A SUPERSTAR. Remember the King of Pop as BET pays tribute to the legacy of Michael Jackson.

Thursday, August 27

10:00 p.m.*

MICHAEL JACKSON: LIFE OF A SUPERSTAR (PREMIERE) - TVPG/CC

One-hour documentary that focuses on Michael Jackson's music career at a young age and takes a look at his solo years in addition to how his collaboration with Quincy Jones yielded one of the best-selling albums of all time. Includes interviews with Janet Jackson, Brooke Shields, Liz Taylor, Quincy Jones, and Jermaine Jackson.

Encores: Saturday, August 29 at 1:00 p.m.*, 6:00 p.m.*, 9:00 p.m.* / Sunday, August 30 at 4:00 p.m.*, 7:00 p.m.*

Friday, August 28

8:00 p.m.*

MICHAEL JACKSON HISTORY: THE KING OF POP (PREMIERE) - TVPG/CC

Two-hour documentary features rare footage from 1980s interview not seen for 25 years and includes interviews with Jermaine Jackson, Latoya Jackson and Quincy Jones. Documentary also features thoughts from Nelson Mandela and the late Princess Diana.

Encores: Saturday, August 29 at 7:00 p.m.* / Sunday, August 30 at 5:00 p.m.*, 9:00 p.m.*

10:00 p.m.*

MICHAEL JACKSON: 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW (PREMIERE) - TVPG/CC

NEW half-hour special produced by BET Music that reveals 10 things viewers did not know about the King of Pop.

Encores: Saturday, August 29 at 12:30 p.m.*, 10:30 p.m.*/ Sunday, August 30 at 8:00 p.m.*

Saturday, August 29

10:00 p.m.*

MICHAEL JACKSON: OUR ICON (PREMIERE) - TVPG/CC

Half-hour special of the exclusive footage featuring Michael Jackson's Ebony Magazine photo cover shoot from December 2007. The broadcast special will feature a star-studded tribute from several insiders including "This is It" Music Tour Director Michael Bearden, Questlove of The Roots, R&B singer Brian McKnight, TV Star Fonzworth Bentley, and DJ Rashida from America's Best Dance Crew. The world's No. 1 Black magazines--EBONY and JET--will also offer perspectives from CEO Linda Johnson Rice, Acting Editor-In-Chief/ Creative Director Harriette Cole, Senior Writer Clarence Waldron and Senior Photo Editor Dudley M. Brooks.

Encore: Sunday, August 30 at 8:30 p.m.*

BET Music will also encore its special REMEMBER THE TIME: MICHAEL JACKSON (PART 1 + 2) on Saturday, August 29 at 2:00 p.m.* and Sunday, August 30 at 12:00 p.m.*

Viewers can visit www.bet.com/specials/michaeljackson for more Michael Jackson articles and photos.

*All times ET/PT

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 98 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business 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 Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Mobile, which provides ring tones, games and video content for wireless devices; and BET International, which operates BET in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.