Byron Allen Says Corporate America Has a ‘Trade Deficit’ For Black America
Founder and CEO of Allen Media Group and Entertainment Studios Byron Allen, says its time for white corporate America to share the wealth.
“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,” Allen told TVNewsCheck.
Allen launched his entertainment career as a comedian and TV host in the 1990s before entering the business side of entertainment, has been focused to get corporate America to spend 15 percent of its adversting budgets on Black-owned media company.
Allen is currently involved in a $10 billion lawsuit with fast food McDonald’s, with Allen claiming that the company isn’t spending a fair share of advertising in his networks. In 2021, Allen and other Black media owners came together to pressure automaker General Motors for a lack of ad spending in Black media.
Allen owns 12 TV networks that are carried by major multichannel video programming distributors. Allen Weather Group owns The Weather Channel and he also owns news website theGrio. The business mogul has expressed interest in buying the NFL franchise the Denver Broncos.
Allen is launching the Weather Channel Plus, which will feature more than 50 streaming channels of news and entertainment and will cost subscribers $4.99 a month. Also coming is the Weather Channel En Español, which will be a digital-only channel.
Allen’s company also has a new digital division of the company, which includes the company’s streaming efforts.