By Ron Wynn
NASHVILLE, TN — Byron Allen remains determined to expand his already sizable media empire. Last week it was confirmed in multiple places that Allen has made a bid to acquire the ABC TV Network and other stations. The bid was listed at $10 billion. The offer comes amid continual rumors and stories that Disney wants to shed some “non-core assets and focus on streaming.” Other properties that would be included in this bid would the cable channels FX and National Geographic , as well as eight ABC owned and operated stations. But thus far ESPN has not been included in the properties that are available.
Disney in turn addressed the report by saying that they had “made no decision with respect to the divestiture of ABC or any other property. The company’s current CEO Bob Iger was initially supposed to be leaving the network, but he has now returned. Over the past few months he has publicly said he was open to divesting Disney’s linear television assets. Allen’s bid was also labeled in the report “preliminary and could change,” meaning it could either be raised or lowered depending on the total earnings number of the properties.
Allen was recently one of the bidders for BET Global properties, which Paramount initially placed for sale, but recently decided to retain. Allen, who received a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in October of 2021, currently owns as CEO of the Allen Media Group “The Grio,” “The Weather Channel,” :”Local Now,” plus dozens of local television stations. The Grio is currently carried free on various televisions through deals with Apple TV +, Roku, Amazon Fire and others. To date, no Black man or woman has purchased one of the major broadcast networks.
