Byron Allen’s business brilliance: The anatomy of an $800-million media empire

Byron Allen, an American businessman, television producer, and comedian, has amassed riches worth $800 million. He has tirelessly built his media empire for over 45 years. From his first stand-up routine at 14 years old and performing at amateur nightclubs in Los Angeles at a very young age to building a strong media empire that the Americans can’t do without, he has shown us that through diligence it is possible to succeed in a path one is passionate about.

Although he was born in Detroit, Michigan, Allen relocated to Los Angeles with his mother in 1968 due to unrest in Michigan. Shortly after their relocation, Allen’s mother started working at NBC Studios in Burbank, and that was how his passion for media and show business started.

Since his mother was working as a publicist at NBC, Allen was given access to the sound stages, so he would sneak onto the set of “The Tonight Show,” starring Johnny Carson, and sit behind one of the desks to role-play as a talk show host. Johnny Carson eventually became the one who encouraged him to start his stand-up routine.

At 18, he made his national television debut on the show that inspired him in the first place, “The Tonight Show,” a move that made him the show’s youngest stand-up comedian. His appearance on the show also led him to co-host NBC’s first reality-based program “Real People,” which he hosted for five years.

Allen’s time on the reality-based show “Real People” served as a solid foundation for his television career. The show afforded him the experience he needed to learn about television production and advertising and gave him access to station owners and advertisers.

In 1993, Allen founded his first company, Allen Media Group, which was formerly known as CF Entertainment. Over the years, he has established and acquired several businesses and affiliates. Billionaire.Africa highlights them below:

• Allen Media Group: Allen Media Group, also known as Entertainment Studios, is a media and entertainment company located in Los Angeles. At first, the company focused on the production and distribution of U.S. television syndication first-run television series, but in the late 2010s, it started expanding its operations by venturing into the film distribution market, purchasing The Weather Channel from Bain Capital and NBC Universal for $300 million.  Allen Media Group now owns more than 30 affiliate broadcast television stations across 21 U.S. markets, including affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox. Additionally, the company operates twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers. These networks include The Weather Channel, Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV, Cars.TV, ES.TV, MyDestination.TV, JusticeCentral.TV, TheGrio.TV, This TV, Local Now TV, and Pattrn. The company’s growth strategy included investing over $1 billion in acquiring these network affiliates nationwide.

• Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures: Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures (ESMP), a leading theatrical motion picture distribution company, is known for its expertise in representing independent firms, major studios, and mini-major studios. The company focuses on launching films as premier theatrical releases. ESMP recently released its latest production, “47 Meters Down: Uncaged,” the sequel to its 2017 shark thriller. The original film garnered significant success, earning more than $44.2 million. ESMP was also involved in the production of Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable and Arctic Dogs.

• Allen Media Broadcasting: Allen Media Broadcasting is a subsidiary of Entertainment Studios. The studio announced on May 6, 2019, about its expansion into television station ownership. This was actualized by acquiring Bayou City Broadcasting stations for $165 million. This includes Evansville, Indiana’s WEVV-TV and WEEV-LD, and Lafayette, Louisiana’s KADN-TV and KLAF-LD, under the new unit Allen Media Broadcasting. The purchase was completed on July 31, 2019. Further expansion occurred on October 1, 2019, when Allen Media agreed to buy 11 stations from USA Television, a Heartland Media subsidiary, for $290 million. This sale received FCC approval on November 22, 2019, and concluded on February 11, 2020. On August 17, 2020, they also announced the acquisition of Hawaii’s ABC affiliate KITV from SJL Broadcasting for $30 million.

• Diamond Sports Group: In 2019, Diamond Sports Group, a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group operating in partnership with Entertainment Studios, was founded to acquire regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Company. These networks, formerly known as Fox Sports Networks, are now branded as Bally Sports. Disney’s sale of these networks was a mandatory condition for its acquisition of 21st Century Fox.