Byron Allen Expands His Media Empire With the Purchase of The Black News Channel

Media Mogul Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group is set to acquire The Black News Channel, which shut down last March after filing for bankruptcy. The Black News Network was founded by Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shad Khan. Allen’s media company is spending $11 million to acquire “substantially all” of the television network’s assets, while Khan had invested $100 million in The Black News Channel since its launch in 2020. Last year, The Black News Channel rebooted its primetime lineup to draw more viewers. Allen’s company formally signed off on the sale with a bankruptcy court in Tallahassee, Florida.

The Allen Media Group already has a wide array of media platforms that they own such as The Grio, The Weather Channel, 27 local TV stations in 21 markets and Comedy.TV. Allen had long expressed interest in entering the television news space. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Allen had also discussed his company’s interest in buying CNN when there were talks of a potential sale of the network prior to the network’s parent company WarnerMedia’s merger with Discovery.

Allen has released statements about the acquisition of The Black News Channel stating his company “will deliver a best-in-class network to serve the underserved African American community and the advertisers who want to reach this extremely valuable audience. Also, we appreciate the opportunity to provide cable operators, satellite companies, telcos and digital platforms diversity of ownership, voices and viewpoints on their programming lineups by having a 100 percent African-American-owned network.” However, currently no information about specific programming that the Black News Channel will offer has been revealed.

The Black News Channel is currently being distributed in about 45 million homes through companies like Comcast, Charter, and DIRECTV, however, Allen says his company can nearly double that number to about 80 million homes in the next six months.