AP

The founder of BET, Robert L. Johnson, just announced he's going into a new business-- one that has very little to do with his media background. He's going to be buying and operating car dealerships in the southern and Midwest regions of the country, partnering with the McLarty-Landers Automotive Group.

What's the deal? The auto group has experience selling cars, and I'd guess that Johnson brings experience in marketing and branding. And this isn't Johnson's first business venture outside entertainment--he also owns the NBC team, the Charlotte Bobcats.

I was watching Johnson's last start up when he was looking for financing--he partnered with Harvey Weinstein to start a new film company called 'Our Stories Films', focusing on urban and African-American audiences. When I was at the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, the two were pitching the new studio upstart, handing out pamphlets with info. But I hear now that they had a hard time getting off the ground. The first film "Who's Your Caddy?" came out in July, but I haven't heard about the company's next film. Certainly a different business model than auto sales!

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