106 & Park
106 & Park (BET's Top 10 Live) is one of the longest running television shows on BET. The 90-minute segment features popular hip hop and R&B music videos. The program was featured in Harlem of the title's namesake. When Viacom bought BET, the program was moved to the CBS Broadcast Center at 524 West 57th Street.
The program plays the top ten most requested videos of the day, as requested by viewers who can vote by telephone or online. In addition to the music video countdown, a typical show also airs one new music video known as the New Joint of the Day and a music video from the past known as the Ol' School Joint of the Day, with the occasional flashback video. The show usually has daily guests as it is a popular promotion tool used by many musicians, actors, and other celebrities. It may also feature live performances by popular hip-hop and R&B artists.
Every Friday, there is a special segment called Freestyle Friday, where two freestyle rappers go at each other in front of the audience. If a rapper can consecutively beat seven opponents they are retired and placed in the Hall of Fame. The first rapper to make it this far was Shakim the Poster Boy. The popular segment has spawned the career of Jin and given a few other rappers the opportunity to get a record deal.
Until July 28, 2005, the show was hosted by BET personalities Free and AJ Calloway for five years. Speculation is that friction with upper management caused the hosts to leave the show. BET has not formally announced replacements for the program. On August 1, 2005, BET replaced Free and AJ with two other popular BET personalities, Tigger (former host of Rap City and current co-host of BET Style) and Julissa (current host of BET's The Center). As of now, there are no permenant replacments.
External links
 | This article about television in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |