Byron Allen, founder and CEO of theGrio‘s parent company Entertainment Studios, is steadily adding on to his already impressive portfolio with his latest purchase of 11 television stations from USA Television. The $290 million deal has the entertainment mogul acquiring the small-market network affiliates, which are spread out all over the country.
“I have known Byron Allen for decades and we are delighted that these stations will now be part of his dynamic company, and that Heartland management will continue to guide them,” said USA Television CEO Robert S. Prather, Jr. “These stations are dedicated to their local communities and this transaction will enable them to become even stronger on both their broadcast and digital platforms.”
“Bob Prather is an excellent broadcaster and he has done a brilliant job of assembling a stellar management team to operate these very strong network affiliate broadcast stations,” said Allen. “This is another milestone for our company, as we have now agreed to purchase our second broadcast network affiliate station group within the past three months, and continue to aggressively look for other opportunities to grow our global media company through strategic acquisitions.”
Bayou City Broadcasting
Earlier this summer, Byron Allen was making major mogul moves once again by successfully purchasing Bayou City Broadcasting Evansville, Inc., and Bayou City Broadcasting Lafayette, Inc. for $165 million.
The purchase, which has now formally received approval from the FCC, includes WEVV (CBS) and WEEV (Fox) both based in Evansville, Indiana and KLAF (NBC) and KADN (Fox) which are based in Lafayette, Louisiana, giving Allen the opportunity to reach a broader audience in these areas.
The Bayou City Broadcasting entities are now a welcomed part of Allen’s Entertainment Studios, Inc., one of the largest independent producers and distributors of film and television with 43 shows currently on the air, and nine 24-hour HD television networks now serving nearly 160 million subscribers. One of those networks is ever popular The Weather Channel and its streaming service Local Now.
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