Byron Allen’s media group sells 10 local TV – Business News
Aspiring media mogul Byron Allen offered off 10 local TV stations for $171 million as his struggling company unwinds its portfolio.
Allen Media Group — which owns The Weather Channel — offered its ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox associates based mostly in Alabama, Illinois, Indiana and Louisiana to Gray Media, which has 180 local stations in 113 markets within the South and Midwest.
The deal is anticipated to close within the fourth quarter, pending FCC approvals, in response to Gray.
Byron Allen at a Tribeca Festival occasion on media. Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
Allen Media Group – which additionally owns associates in Honolulu, Hawaii and California – put 28 local TV stations throughout 21 local markets up for sale in June with help from Moelis & Company.
The comedian-turned-entrepreneur’s company has suffered as media advert spending has steadily declined throughout the industry and rates of interest have remained stubbornly high, pushing the firm to order mass layoffs final yr, The Post beforehand reported.
Earlier this yr, local meteorologists at Allen Media stations had been compelled to present tearful goodbyes after the company changed them with a feed from The Weather Channel.
Allen Media deliberate to put off or reassign a minimum of 50 meteorologists throughout all of its local stations because it constructed a new Atlanta hub to guide protection at The Weather Channel, which the company acquired for $300 million in 2018.
The Weather Channel additionally trimmed its workforce final October, and shut down its Spanish-language model as half of “extensive cost-cutting measures.”
In February, the company refinanced its $100 million revolving credit facility in its newest attempt to cut prices and provides itself time to sell off the stations.
Byron Allen on the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party in March. Getty Images
Allen, in the meantime, has continued to snap up new offers, taking on the 12:30 a.m. slot on CBS with “Comics Unleashed,” a half-hour comedy show that he’ll host.
Allen has led a handful of unsuccessful bids for media giants over the previous few years, final yr offering to take over Paramount for $30 billion.
The FCC not too long ago greenlit the long-awaited $8.4 billion deal between CBS proprietor Paramount and David Ellison’s Skydance Media.
Gray Media is taking on 10 local TV stations from Allen Media Group. Facebook/Gray Media
In 2023, Allen reportedly provided Disney $10 billion for ABC and a few of its cable networks.
He additionally reportedly thought-about making an offer for E.W. Scripps.
