Ninety days into one of the most consequential jobs in Black media, Louis Carr is not slowing down. He is not panicking either.

In a wide-ranging conversation with Forbes senior writer Jabari Young at the NASDAQ Market Site, Carr spoke candidly about BET's programming future, the challenge of operating in a shifting media landscape, what the return of standup comedy and a major franchise award show could look like on the network, and why a kid who grew up poor on Chicago's West Side never planned any of this.

Carr was named BET president in December 2025, succeeding Scott Mills after nearly 40 years at the company, most of them as president of media sales where he helped generate more than $10 billion in advertising revenue. He called being asked to take the top job a complete surprise. "I didn't see it coming," he told Young. "What I saw was: I've had an amazing career. It's time to go do something else."

Carr was direct about what viewers can expect under his leadership. Standup comedy is returning to BET. "Comic View. Maybe not that name, we're not sure, but it will be standup comedy," he said. He also confirmed the network is developing micro dramas, original series, and is actively exploring getting into the sports business.

When pressed on the future of BET's franchise award shows, Carr confirmed that one of the two suspended ceremonies will return in 2026. Without explicitly naming it, he strongly implied it will be the Soul Train Awards. "I think that's the one everybody wants to come back," he said with a grin, declining to go further. The BET Hip Hop Awards' fate remains publicly unconfirmed.

Carr framed BET's role in 2026 as something that extends well beyond entertainment. With the recent death of civil rights icon Rev. Jesse Jackson and what he described as a "misinformation pandemic" reshaping how communities receive information, he said the network's new operating lanes are community, culture, and connection. "Our consumers are looking for something they can believe in right now," he said. BET has launched the slogan "BET is something you can believe in" to anchor that shift.

A social impact mental health initiative is also in development, focused not on BET becoming a mental health provider but on connecting its audience with existing agencies and institutions. "We're not going to get into the mental health business," Carr said. "We're going to support the mental health business." Financial literacy programming through strategic partnerships is also on the horizon.

Carr grew up on Chicago's West Side, the son of a city worker mother and a father he described simply as someone who "did his thing." He was a track star at Lane Technical High School and part of a mile relay team that chased national records. He got hurt, had his college scholarship offers rescinded, and ended up at Drake University in Iowa after an athletic director showed up unannounced at his house and offered him a full ride based on press clippings alone. He graduated in 1978 with a degree in broadcast journalism, wanting to be on camera.

That did not happen. A best friend pushed him toward sales. He worked at Johnson Publishing Company, then Black Enterprise, before being recruited to BET. He never left. When Young asked him to describe his career in one word, Carr did not hesitate: "God. Because I didn't have a vision for any of this."

On why he took the presidency when he could have walked away, Carr was equally clear. "I took this job not for me. I took this job for the Black community," he told an Iowa TV station in February 2026, a line he echoed with Young at the NASDAQ. "I've already been helped. So how can I take that and be helpful?" He credited mentors including BET founder Robert Johnson and Black Enterprise founder Earl Graves with shaping how he approaches leadership, describing both as waymakers. He said he still speaks to Johnson regularly. "At the age he is, he's still doing deals," Carr said, declining to reveal his mentor's age. "That's very impressive."

Carr's secondary brand, WayMaker, a men's summit and media platform he has built over the past seven years focused on inspiring Black men around finance, health, and careers, is also continuing, with the annual summit expected this fall. When asked to name his business empire in one word he said: inspirational. When asked what he looks for in executives, he said: someone who believes there are no boundaries for themselves and is willing to do the work. When asked the difference between good and great content in 2026, he went back to his track coach in high school. "The work," he said. "The work."