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BET Awards 2015: Here's a look at the winners

Winners at the 2015 BET Awards included Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, and Kendrick Lamar. The show was also reportedly the most-tweeted-about BET Awards ever.

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Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Janet Jackson accepts the Ultimate Icon: Music Dance Visual Award at the 2015 BET Awards.

The winners at the 2015 BET Awards included singers Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, and Nicki Minaj, with appearances by artists such as Janet Jackson also drawing interest from viewers.

The BET Awards were created by the Black Entertainment Television network and include such categories as Best Male and Female Hip-Hop Artist, Best Actor and Best Actress, and Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year.

Beyonce took the Video of the Year award for her song “7/11,” while Minaj won the Best Female Hip-Hop Artist prize, and Lamar took the Best Male Hip-Hop Artist award. Beyonce also won the Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, while Brown was named the Best Male R&B/Pop Artist. The hip-hop group Rae Sremmurd won the Best Group award and singer Sam Smith took the New Artist prize, while actors Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson of “Empire” won the Best Actor and Actress awards, respectively. The Oscar-nominated movie “Selma” won the Best Movie prize, while tennis player Serena Williams won the Best Sportswoman award and the basketball player Stephen Curry won the Best Sportsman prize. Meanwhile, the Ultimate Icon award was given to singer Janet Jackson. 

The ceremony was hosted by actors Anthony Anderson and Tracee Ellis Ross, who star on the ABC sitcom “Blackish.” 

The BET Awards have become a major player in the category of cable awards shows when it comes to social media. While it doesn’t win in viewers, the 2014 awards ceremony was the most-tweeted-about awards show of the year up until that time, according to the TV website The Futon Critic. By comparison, on social media the BET Awards beat out such awards shows traditionally thought of as heavy hitters as the Golden Globes, the People’s Choice Awards, and the Billboard Music Awards.

The broadcast's viewership has also been performing consistently well in the ratings for the past few years – according to the website TheWrap, the 2014 show was the highest-rated ever except for the 2009 program, which aired shortly after singer Michael Jackson’s death and included a tribute to him. The 2014 show drew 7.9 million viewers, while the 2013 program brought in 7.8 and 2012 drew 7.4 

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