Black PR Wire Power Profiler on Byron Allen
Byron Allen was born in 1961 in Detroit. Shortly thereafter, he moved to LA. When he was just a teenager, he started performing at stand-up clubs in Los Angeles. That was where comedian Jimmie Walker discovered him, and offered him a job as a writer. Throughout his career, Allen has worked alongside David Letterman and Jay Leno.
In 1993, the comedian, producer, media mogul, and philanthropist founded his Los Angeles-based global media company, Entertainment Studios. The company has additional offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh. Allen now owns one of the largest cable network portfolios in the industry, featuring ten, 24-hour HD television networks (THE WEATHER CHANNEL, COMEDY.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, PETS.TV, RECIPE.TV, LOCAL NOW, and THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL). The company continues producing and distributing Emmy Award-winning and nominated shows, while also selling advertising for 43 broadcast and cable television programs. Entertainment Studios has one of the largest libraries of family and advertiser-friendly lifestyle content in the world.
Further distinguishing Entertainment Studios is its status as the first African-American owned multi-platform media studio producing and distributing wide-release motion pictures and content for all platforms. In 2015, Allen purchased Freestyle Releasing, now called Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, a full-service theatrical movie distribution company. Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures released 2017’s highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN. In 2018, Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES and the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.
In 2016, Entertainment Studios purchased TheGrio, a digital, video-centric news platform devoted to providing compelling entertainment, news and lifestyle content for African-Americans. TheGrio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles, and blogs on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business, and entertainment and remains focused on curating engaging digital content and currently has more than 20 million annual visitors.
Also, in late Q4, 2019, Allen’s technical wizards began rolling out LOCAL NOW, Entertainment Studios’ STREAMING APP. This OTT and MOBILE APP will build revenue streams fed from across Byron Allen’s many content business lines, building stronger engagement with a wider field of audience demographics. Local Now is powered by The Weather Channel technology which was a defining factor that attracted Allen and his executive team as they acquired the 36-year old, all-American brand in spring of 2018.
By the second quarter of the new decade, Allen Media Broadcasting will add 11 TV stations to its line up, when Byron Allen completes his acquisition of USA TELEVISION. Byron Allen was inducted into Broadcasting and Cable’s, BROADCAST HALL of FAME in late October 2019.
Sources: www.entertainmentstudios.com; www.imdb.com