Why This Matters: Byron Allen, best known as a stand-up comic, has made a low-key transition into a bona fide independent TV industry mogul.
Byron Allen is one of the busiest people in show business.
But Allen the founder, chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios, who has made the unique transformation from on-air personality to media magnate is keeping his cool. Chatting in a conference room in his headquarters in Century City, the wall behind him covered with Andy Warhol paintings, he's philosophical about his shift to moguldom.
I learned early on that for me, it wasn't show business, Allen said. It was business show.
Indeed, business comes first. Allen took a giant step toward amassing an empire in March 2018, when he acquired The Weather Channel for $300 million.
He's hardly slowed down. In May alone, Allen emerged as an equity partner in Sinclair Broadcast Group's deal to acquire 21 regional sports networks from The Walt Disney Co. for just shy of $10 billion, days before he acquired four TV stations for $165 million from Bayou City Broadcasting.
Allen does not appear to be finished acquiring. A sports franchise may happen. I'd love to take a good look at a basketball team, an NFL team, he said. That would be a lot of fun.
Despite being the rare independent owner of major media holdings, Allen remains something of a low-key figure in Hollywood. Entertainment execs note his growing portfolio and Wikipedia entry, but many say they don't know Allen all that well.
He is one of the hardest working persons in entertainment, said Dave Smith, CEO of consultancy SmithGeiger. He is present at any industry gathering, setting up meetings, pitching his projects and just being present. He never has disappeared or given up, always creating and always pitching something.
Allen shared his plans for growing his assets from company headquarters. Dressed casually in a collared shirt and slacks, he was effusive, apologizing a half-dozen times for being tardy.
He grabbed The Weather Channel from Blackstone Group, Bain Capital and Comcast, a pact that did not include weather.com. In June, Verizon Communications agreed to carry the network on Fios TV after a four-year impasse. They were my first phone call when we bought The Weather Channel, Allen said. I went right to the top of the house.
The Fios addition means The Weather Channel's subscriber base now stands at 78.2 million in July, down 1.9% from a year ago, while other cable services are down an average of 5%, according to Nielsen and Weather Channel.
Tom O'Brien, former Nexstar Media Group executive VP, was named Weather Channel president in February. Allen calls the network a phenomenal business in the unique position of saving lives in an era where extreme weather is hardly a rarity. For that to be in the hands of an independent, and the fact that this network really does help protect and save lives and property, that's a huge responsibility, Allen said. We don't take it lightly.
Some wondered about the lofty price tag, but the numbers worked for Allen. I think he sees things that other people don't see, said Arnie Kleiner, retired KABC Los Angeles president/general manager. He sees opportunity.
Local Is Focal
The acquisition included streaming service Local Now, which Allen is extremely bullish on. Local Now provides news, weather, sports and traffic, targeting specific ZIP codes, in real time. Allen plans to add movies, series and concerts to the platform. Discussing Local Now at the NAB Show in April, Allen called it an unstoppable beast.
The ad-supported video-on-demand platform has already hit 1 billion viewed minutes, Allen said, and over 1.5 million people have downloaded Local Now despite minimal marketing. Allen said he could sell Local Now for more than he paid for Weather Channel.
It's gotten the attention of Bill Hague, executive VP at consultancy Magid. I think they're onto something, he said. Local Now is an innovative, entrepreneurial approach to weather content that is addressable.
The deal with Sinclair for the Disney RSNs, spun off from Disney's 21st Century Fox acquisition, will see Entertainment Studios provide content for the networks. Allen has known the Sinclair folks for decades, selling them syndicated shows.
He has major plans in local television. The Bayou City deal includes a pair of affiliated stations in Evansville, Indiana, and two more in Lafayette, Louisiana. It's a great way for us to start our journey in the broadcast-network affiliate business, he said. We're very enthusiastic about the Big Four network affiliates. We plan to be aggressive in that space. Our goal is to buy as many as we can.
The Bayou City seller was DuJuan McCoy, meaning the already paltry group of African-American station owners stayed flat with Allen's purchase. Another African-American owner, Armstrong Williams, thinks the stations will benefit from the new owner. When you sit with Byron, you're not sitting with a comedian, Williams said. You're sitting with a serial entrepreneur.
Williams calls Allen a marketing genius with personality galore, and a set of brass knuckles to boot. I don't always understand how he does it, but he does it, he said.
Allen's other holdings include a batch of TV networks, including Comedy.tv and Justice Central; syndicated shows such as America's Court and Comics Unleashed, which Allen hosts; and a motion-picture division that includes shark thriller 47 Meters Down and surf picture Bethany Hamilton: Unstoppable.
On Oct. 29, Allen will be inducted into the B&C Hall of Fame.
Pitching Jokes Beats Pitching Newspapers
A sign next to the Entertainment Studios elevators reads: Mediocrity or greatness is simply a decision. Choose greatness!
Allen's showbiz
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Why This Matters: Byron Allen, best known as a stand-up comic, has made a low-key transition into a bona fide independent TV industry mogul.
