106 & Park was an American hip hop and R&B music video show, set up in a countdown format, that was broadcast Monday to Friday at 6/5c on BET. Since its inception, it had been the network's number-one rated show. On November 14, 2014, BET cancelled 106 & Park.
and Marie "Free" Wright were the original hosts of the show from September 11, 2000 until July 28, 2005, when Calloway announced that it would be his last show, as well as for Free, as the show was either presented by Calloway or Wright.
On August 1, 2005 106 & Park presented by television personality and model Julissa Bermudez and Rap City: Tha Basement's Big Tigger until July 3, 2006 as temporary replacements for the show until they found another female co-host for Terrence J. Around this time, Terrence J would be guest co-host the show with Julissa. Celebrities hosted the show as well.
On October 1, 2012, the new hosts for 106 & Park were announced, including Shad "Bow Wow" Moss, Jordan "Shorty da Prince" Johnson, Kimberly "Paigion" Walker and Mykel "Miss Mykie" Gray. For the first time in the show's 12-year history, there were officially four hosts for 106 & Park, instead of two. On January 15, 2013, 106 & Park revealed a new set, graphics, logo, and theme song. On January 23, 2013, the former hostess Rocsi Diaz made an unannounced appearance on the show. New segments included "The Mykie Report", "The Battle of the Sexes", "Girl Chat", "Inside the Rapper's Studio" and "Virtually Famous". On July 3, 2013, after many weeks of rumors and speculation about the fates of Johnson, Walker and Gray returning to the show, BET released a statement confirming the news that they would not return to the show. The hosts had not appeared on the show in the nearly two months since May 2013. Bow Wow remained as a permanent host on the show with Angela Simmons serving as a temporary co-host for the summer, her last day was on September 30, 2013, and along with special guest co-hosts such as Adrienne Bailon.
On September 27, 2013, Drake made the official announcement that Bow Wow would be joined by fellow Toronto-native Keshia Chanté as the official new co-host, who would officially start on October 1, 2013. On November 14, 2014, BET cancelled 106 & Park. The series aired its final episode on December 19, 2014.
Broadcasting history
The show began for one hour and, until 2005, the show was broadcast late night at 2am/1am, immediately before BET After Dark and the most recent episode was broadcast on Saturday afternoons at 5/4c. In 2001, it was extended to 90 minutes. In 2008, the show was extended to two hours, but still reverts to 90 minutes depending on BET's scheduling for that day. The show celebrated its 2,000th episode on August 20, 2008. From July 25, 2011, to September 2, 2011, the show was extended to three hours. The show's tenth anniversary special was on October 6, 2010. The previous hosts A.J. Calloway & Free, Julissa & Big Tigger returned to the show to celebrate along with current hosts Terrence J and Rocsi. The show returned during the 2015 BET Experience from Los Angeles. It was hosted by Ray J and Tinashe on June 26, 2015, and Yara Shahidi, Marcus Scribner and Keshia Chante on June 27, 2015.
Every video that was voted onto the countdown starting as a "New Joint of the Day" 65 times would be retired and placed into the "106 & Park Video Hall of Fame". This normally occurred frequently, and earned Bow Wow the permanent title of Mr. 106 & Park, and Aaliyah the permanent title of Miss 106 & Park for having the most #1's of their respective genders. The most recent video to be retired was "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire featuring Krayzie Bone on December 19, 2014.
Reception
In 2016, a The New York Times study of the 50 TV shows with the most Facebook likes found that 106 & Park "is popular in the Black Belt, generally", and "on Indian reservations in South Dakota and Arizona."
