STELLAR AWARD-WINNING, VOCAL POWERHOUSE KIERRA SHEARD IS NEW JUDGE OF "SUNDAY BEST" SEASON 7

Kierra Joins Returning Judges Pastor Donnie McClurkin, Yolanda Adams, Mentor Kim Burrell And Grammy Award-Winning Host Kirk Franklin

SUNDAY BEST Season 7 Will Visit Houston, Memphis, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. to Discover Soul-Stirring Talent

NEW YORK - February 28, 2014 - BET Networks announces today that GRAMMY(R) Award-nominated and Stellar Award-winning artist and songwriter Kierra Sheard is joining BET's award-winning singing competition SUNDAY BEST as a new judge. The well-established gospel show welcomes back music legend Kirk Franklin as host and boasts the return of judges Pastor Donnie McClurkin and Yolanda Adams as well as contestant mentor Kim Burrell, who will also judge the auditions.

SUNDAY BEST returns for a seventh season of awe-inspiring gospel performances, kicking off with the much-anticipated audition process in Houston at New Light Christian Church on March 1st. Next, hopefuls in the Memphis, Atlanta and Washington, D.C. areas will have their chance to stand out and possibly be crowned winner of SUNDAY BEST. The stage show for season 7 of SUNDAY BESTwill be taped in Atlanta, GA.

2014 SUNDAY BEST SEASON 7 AUDITIONS:

Saturday, March 1st
New Light Christian Center Church
1535 Greensmark Drive, Houston, TX 77067

Saturday, March 8th
Mississippi Boulevard Christian Church
70 North Bellevue Blvd, Memphis, TN 38104

Saturday, March 22nd
The Greater Travelers Rest Baptist Church
4650 Flat Shoals Parkway, Decatur, GA 30034

Saturday, March 29th
Reid Temple A.M.E. Church
11400 Glen Dale Blvd, Glen Dale, MD 20769

For continuous SUNDAY BEST updates, please visit http://www.bet.com/SundayBest Also,. follow SUNDAY BEST on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/BETSundayBest (hash tag: #BETSundayBest) and Facebook fan page at http://www.facebook.com/BETSundayBest .

About BET Networks

BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: 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 90 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; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - 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 Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET Mobile, which provides ringtones, 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.