Stephen Hill & Debra L. Lee
Debra Lee
Title: Chairman & CEO, BET Networks
Years in Cable: 29
Education: Brown University; Harvard Law School, Kennedy School—Masters in Public Policy
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Learn something from every experience.
Stephen G. Hill
Title: President of Programming, BET
Years in Cable: 20
Education: Brown University
Best Advice in 7 Words or Less: Never give advice with only seven words.
BET is marking its 35th anniversary in a big way, starting with its first original miniseries, “The Book of Negroes,” which gained notice in February. Instead of taking BET’s status as the #1 network for African Americans for granted, Lee and Hill are reinvigorating the brand at home and taking it abroad—to Europe and Africa in 2015. Lee is also excited by the growth and promise of BET’s female-skewing sister network, Centric, especially considering African-American women wield $260 billion of purchasing power each year. The icing on the anniversary cake? Definitely.
Lee
Favorite TV show as a kid: “Julia” with Dihann Carroll
Favorite Cable Show memory: Chairing the cable show as we returned to New Orleans for the first time after Katrina
Favorite vacation spot: Miami
Hill
Twitter, Instagram or Snapchat? Instagram
My favorite newfound hobby: Sleeping
Favorite TV show as a kid: “Batman”
Favorite Cable Show memory: Here is really not the place to recall that.
Desert island album: Prince – Sign O’ The Times
Favorite vacation spot: Mustique
