13th Annual McDonald's 365BLACK AWARDS to Premiere on BET Networks Today

McDonald's USA will televise its 13 th annual 365Black Awards ceremony for the fourth consecutive year on the national cable television network Black Entertainment Television (BET ). Hosted by actor/photographer Lance Gross alongside actress/singer Amber P. Riley, the program will initially air Thursday, September 1 at 9:00 p.m. EST/8:00 p.m. CST. Those who miss the first airing can catch it again the following Sunday, September 4 at 10:30 a.m. EST/9:30 a.m. CST on BET and on CENTRIC-TV on September 11 at 11:00 p.m. EST/10:00 p.m. CST and again on September 12 at 10:00 a.m. EST/9:00 a.m. CST.

Held in conjunction with ESSENCE Festival presented by Coca-Cola , the show boasts stellar performances from R&B singer Kelly Price and The Braxton Sisters, who stole the show during their tribute to Lifetime Achievement honoree, Toni Braxton. The two were joined alongside recording artists Kenny Lattimore, V. Bozeman and Eric Benet in honor of Toni. Anthony Hamilton and The Hamiltones, Chrisette Michele, Ro James and Canton Jones led other crowd-moving performances at the awards.

"I've worked with the brand several times over the last few years. I was honored to host the McDonald's 365Black Awards for the first year alongside Amber," said Lance. "It's extremely satisfying to be a part of something that lifts our people up."

The awards are presented annually to salute outstanding achievements of those who are committed to making positive contributions that strengthen the African-American community. This year's honorees include: Grammy Award-winning artist Toni Braxton; football cornerback Charles "Peanut" Tillman; award-winning actress Wendy Raquel Robinson; educator and historian Lonnie Bunch; and McDonald's owner/operator Larry Tripplett. Additionally, teen philanthropist Lauren Seroyer and teen social-entrepreneur Donovan Smith were recognized alongside this lineup with the third McDonald's 365Black Community Choice Youth Award, facilitated by Thurgood Marshall College Fund.

"We're excited to team up with BET Networks again to broadcast McDonald's annual 365Black Awards," said William Rhodes, McDonald's U.S. marketing director. "McDonald's is committed every day to being deeply rooted in your community and it's a great feeling to connect with another media entity that seeks to uplift our community as well."

Be sure to follow @365Black on Twitter for commentary on the awards and use the hashtag #365BlackAwards.

ABOUT MCDONALD'S USA McDonald's USA, LLC, serves a variety of menu options made with quality ingredients to more than 25 million customers every day. Nearly 90 percent of McDonald's 14,000 U.S. restaurants are independently owned and operated by businessmen and women. Customers can now log online for free at approximately 11,500 participating Wi-Fi enabled McDonald's U.S. restaurants. For more information, visitwww.365Black.com, or follow us on Twitter@365Black and Facebookwww.facebook.com/mcdonalds.

ABOUT BET NETWORKS BET Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom Inc. (VIA, VIAB), is the nation's leading provider of quality entertainment, music, news and public affairs television programming for the African-American audience. The primary BET channel reaches more than 90 million households and can be seen in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, the United Kingdom and sub-Saharan Africa. BET is the dominant African-American consumer brand with a diverse group of business extensions: BET.com, a leading Internet destination for Black entertainment, music, culture, and news; CENTRIC, a 24-hour entertainment network targeting the 25- to 54-year-old African-American audience; BET Digital Networks - BET Gospel and BET Hip Hop, attractive alternatives for cutting-edge entertainment tastes; BET Home Entertainment, a collection of BET-branded offerings for the home environment including DVDs and video-on-demand; BET Event Productions, a full-scale event management and production company with festivals and live events spanning the globe; BET operates in the United Kingdom and oversees the extension of BET network programming for global distribution.

The following trademarks used herein are owned by McDonald's Corporation and its affiliates: 365Black and McDonald's. 2016 McDonald's

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160817/399231

SOURCE McDonald's USA

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