Soul was originally a commercial-free service, along with sister channel VH1 Smooth, and part of the "MTV Digital Suite" of digital cable channels (which was sold only to cable providers to give them an advantage over satellite services). The first video shown on the channel was "Boogie Wonderland" by Earth, Wind & Fire.[1]
VH1 Soul logo from 2006-2015
BET Soul logo from 2015-2021
On December 28, 2015 (few months after MTV Jams' rebrand as "BET Jams"), management of the channel was moved to BET Networks. It was subsequently rebranded as BET Soul that same day, and became a sister channel to BET (the network itself removing music videos after the ending of 106 & Park last year).[2] The move would be part of a series of programming and management shifts within then-parent company Viacom in the coming years.[3] In 2019, the legacy assets of Viacom and CBS Corporation would be reunited in a merger between the two companies that led to the formation of ViacomCBS, later to be rebranded as Paramount Global.
On November 9, 2022, oversight of VH1 would move to the later-renamed BET Media Group. The move reunited two networks, while also splitting them from MTV and its other formerly-branded sibling channels (VH1 Classic and VH1 Country).[4]
