Allen Media Group

Dear Culture with Panama Jackson debuts May 26. Six more podcasts will premiere throughout this summer and fall.

The former Warner Media ad sales executive will represent the company’s syndicated broadcast programming.

The strategic alliance is designed to accelerate growth across Allen Media Group’s portfolio of media and digital properties.

The suit charges the ratings firm with fraud and concealment and alleges media companies have suffered billions of dollars in damages.

The HBCU Go free streaming digital platform will have distribution rights to sports content related to the Southwestern Athletic Conference beginning this fall.

The veteran advertising sales executive will coordinate and expand revenue
and new business development.

Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group and Entertainment Studios, is unyielding in his efforts to get corporate America to spend 15% of its ad budgets on Black-owned media and redress generations of inequity, including a yawning absence of minority-owned media. “America should not be proud of the fact in 2022 you are looking at the one and only Black person in America that owns Big Four network affiliates,” he says.

An array of Black-owned media company executives will gather on March 15-16 to showcase their new and returning programming for advertisers and their agencies. Allen Media Group will anchor the two-afternoon virtual event designed to promote racial equity in the way marketing budgets are planned and allocated. Register here. 

With no ownership cap relief in sight from the FCC, broadcasters look to pick up ones and twos along with pursuing other avenues to grow their businesses. Meanwhile, the industry waits to see if Tegna will be sold. Note: This story is available to TVNewsCheck Premium members only. If you would like to upgrade your free TVNewsCheck membership to Premium now, you can visit your Member Home Page, available when you log in at the very top right corner of the site or in the Stay Connected Box that appears in the right column of virtually every page on the site. If you don’t see Member Home, you will need to click Log In or Subscribe.

In a newly created position, the industry veteran will oversee accounting and finance for all Allen Media Group corporate entities.

A federal court judge in California has reversed a ruling dismissing media mogul Byron Allen’s $10 billion lawsuit charging that McDonald’s discriminated against Black-owned media when it buys advertising. In a new order entered Friday, Judge Fernando Olguin denied McDonald’s motion to dismiss without prejudice and said McDonald’s has to answer Allen’s complaint by Jan. 27.

AMG says Google Cloud’s scalable cloud infrastructure will power AMG’s digital evolution, allowing it to build apps faster, make smarter business decisions and connect to its audiences anywhere through data analytics, artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities.

Byron Allen Media Group announced that its new Allen Media Digital division is launching Sports.TV, a new free-streaming platform. The Sports.TV app will act as an aggregator for sports, news and entertainment networks, as well as local TV stations for free.

A judge has dismissed a $10 billion lawsuit against McDonald’s Corp. by the media entrepreneur Byron Allen, who accused the fast-food chain of racial discrimination for not advertising with Black-owned media. U.S. District Judge Fernando Olguin in Los Angeles wrote on Tuesday that two companies owned by Allen did not offer enough factual evidence to show that McDonald’s “intentionally and purposefully discriminated against them.”

Media entrepreneur Byron Allen has raised $10 billion in preferred equity and debt for his bid for station group Tegna, hoping to prevail over a rival offer from investment firms Apollo Global Management and Standard General LP, people familiar with the matter said. The financing is backed by a consortium of 14 banks and 10 investors, including Ares Management Corp., Fortress Investment Group, Oaktree Capital Management and Michael Milken’s family office, one of the sources said.

Byron Allen, the 1980s comedian-turned-media-mogul who owns the Weather Channel, is angling to buy a massive chain of TV stations that were formerly owned by the Gannett newspaper giant — and the outcome could make or break his budding business empire, according to some insiders.

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group said it acquired HBCUGo.TV, a streaming service serving the 105 historically Black colleges and universities from Symonds-Evans Media. The acquisition bolsters the company’s reach into African-American audiences. Allen Media Group recently launched theGrio.TV as an over-the-air network.

Byron Allen has shored up more investors to back his $23-a-share takeover offer for television broadcaster Tegna Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. The media mogul is seeking $8 billion or more in debt and equity to outbid a consortium that includes private equity giant Apollo Global Management and Standard General, said the people, who asked to not be identified because the matter isn’t public. Allen is discussing raising at least $2 billion in preferred equity from Oaktree Capital Group, Fortress Investment Group, the family office of Michael Milken and Ares Management Corp.

Eisner will continue to oversee platform licensing and expansion of acquisitions for Allen Media Group’s OTT, OTA broadcast, television and digital networks.

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group closed its $70 million cash acquisition of the Flint-Sagniaw, Mich. station from Gray Television on Thursday.

Veteran ad sales executive Jocelyn Langevine will represent theGrio, Allen Media Group’s African American-targeted website, television network and free-streaming app, focusing on cross-platform initiatives and brand integration.

At $4.99 per month, the new subscription service features more than 50 streaming channels for a fourth quarter 2021 launch.

The lawsuit alleges that McDonald’s refusal to contract with Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks and Weather Group “is the result of racial stereotyping through McDonald’s tiered advertising structure that differentiates on the basis of race.” McDonald’s announces plans to accelerate “the allocation of advertising dollars to diverse-owned media companies, production houses and content creators.”

The new arrangement adds 10 Scripps stations to Allen Media Group’s free streaming platform.

The veteran ad sales executive to represent Allen Media Group’s Entertainment Studios syndicated broadcast programming.

Fresh from commitments from major advertisers and an agency holding company to boost their spending on Black-owned media, the Black-Owned Media Upfront announced a partial lineup of speakers today. Presenters will include, clockwise from upper left, Butch Graves, president-CEO, Black Enterprise; Roland Martin, founder, Nu Vision Media; Michele Ghee, CEO, Ebony & Jet; Paula Madison, chairman-CEO, Madison Media Management; Detavio Samuels, CEO, Revolt Media; and Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO, Allen Media Group.  Register to attend here and please register again if you initially registered prior to Wednesday, May 5. Start times for this event: Tuesday, May 11: 3 p.m. ET. Wednesday, May 12: Noon ET. 

Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group and The Weather Group, will continue his crusade to win equity and inclusion for Black-owned media in the world of advertising by headlining  the first Black-Owned Media Upfront. The event, set for May 11 and 12 from noon to 2:30 p.m. ET, will turn a spotlight on the programming and audiences of his companies and others involved in the movement. Register here to participate.

In addition to live channels that feature national news, superstar talent and marquee content partners, Local Now’s state-of-the-art streaming platform now also delivers original local news, weather and information, customized by market.

The veteran television journalist will interview Byron Allen, owner of The Weather Channel, Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group, about his progress at convincing major marketers to devote 2% of their annual advertising spend on Black-owned media. Allen’s efforts have convinced General Motors to commit to a long-term advertising investment and Verizon announced it is planning to partner with Allen in a summit in May. To join the webinar, register here.

The diginet is now carried on eight ABC-owned station subchannels in major markets Including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.

Systemic racism in the advertising industry has left Black-owned media with a fraction of the advertising dollars that should be flowing their way, argues Byron Allen, owner of The Weather Channel and founder of Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group. Allen, who maintains big marketers can ameliorate the problem by devoting 2% of their advertising spend on Black-owned media, will press his case during a TVNewsCheck webinar, Black Owned Media Matters, set to take place Thursday, April 15, at 1 p.m. ET. Register here.