Byron Allen
Founder, Chairman, CEO, Allen Media Group
Allen Media Group Founder/Chairman/CEO Byron Allen founded Allen Media Group in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Allen Media Group owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and ten 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 300 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO TELEVISION NETWORK, and HBCU GO.
Allen Media Group also owns the digital streaming platforms HBCU GO, SPORTS.TV, THEGRIO, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP, and LOCAL NOW — the free-streaming AVOD service powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information.
Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 74 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations.
In 2018, Byron Allen was selected for the Bloomberg 50 as one of the people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, and technology and science whose 2018 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy. He was also selected for the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at the Goldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit 2018.
In January 2019, Allen was a recipient of NATPE’s 16th Annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award. Allen received the 2019 Whitney M. Young Jr. Award at the 46th Annual Los Angeles Urban League Awards Dinner. Also in 2019, Byron Allen was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame.
In 2021, the National Association of Broadcasters elected Allen to their Television Board. Allen is a member of The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Motion Picture & Television Fund Board of Governors, and is also a member of the Foundation Board of Trustees for Children’s Hospital Los Angeles.
In 2023, Allen was presented with the inaugural Legendary Honor Award at Harvard Business School’s 50th Annual African American Student Union H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference. The conference recognizes the contributions of African American leaders and addresses key issues such as Black wealth creation, leadership, business ownership, and societal equity.
Also in 2023, the University of Southern California’s Leslie and William McMorrow Neighborhood Academic Initiative presented Allen with the USC McMorrow NAI Champion Award honoring USC’s Neighborhood Academic Initiative Class of 2023. Additionally in 2023, the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery and mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg presented Allen with one of the highest honors at their Visionary Ball — the Visionary Award.
In 2024, Allen received the Fred Dressler Leadership Award at the Mirror Awards in New York City, which is named for Time Warner Cable executive, given to those who best contribute to the public’s understanding of the media.
Among the most prominent recent deal announcements, Allen Media Group partnered with Google in a multi-year, multi-platform deal to accelerate growth across all Allen Media Group’s portfolio of media and digital properties. In 2022, Allen Media Group also acquired Black News Channel and immediately transitioned it to TheGRIO Television Network. Allen Media Group also announced a major HBCU GO distribution deal with CBS owned-and-operated duopoly television stations in America’s largest markets for a college football sports package.
Allen Media Group has a multi-office national staff of employees in cities across America. The Allen Media Group portfolio of companies is constantly finding new and exciting ways to engage its 300 million subscribers every day.