: Paramount stock reverses higher after WSJ report media company was looking into selling bulk of its BET Media Group

Shares of Paramount Global PARA jumped 0.6% in midday trading, reversing an earlier loss of as much as 0.7%, after The Wall Street Journal reported that the mass media company was looking into selling a majority stake in its BET Media Group. Citing people familiar with the matter, the WSJ report said Paramount was looking to boost its finances by selling off the bulk of BET Media, which includes the cable TV channels BET and VH1, so it can support its Paramount+ streaming service. Although BET and its BET+ streaming service have strong brands, it would be a challenge for Paramount to fold the service into Paramout+, because Tyler Perry owns a minority stake in BET+, the WSJ reports said. In late February, the WSJ had reported that Paramount had turned down a $3 billion bid from former executive David Nevins to buy its Showtime streaming service. Paramount’s stock has run up 25.2% over the past three months, while the S&P 500 SPX has edged up 3.3%.

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