ADVERTISING & MARKETING : Notes

General Motors Corp., the world’s No. 1 auto maker, said it will spend at least 50% more on advertising with BET Holdings Inc., owner of Black Entertainment Television, in an effort to increase sales to black people. Terms of the one-year agreement weren’t disclosed. BET’s holdings include Emerge and Heart & Soul magazines as well as its flagship cable-TV channel, which reaches 54 million viewers. GM, one of the nation’s largest advertisers, spent $2.2 billion on U.S. advertising in 1998, according to Competitive Media Reporting. The Detroit-based company spent almost $4 million on BET last year, CMR said.