BET Takeover - Variety: Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group Names Six Senior Execs to Board of Directors

Story from Variety:

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group expanded its board of directors from the original trio to a new total of nine board members, effective immediately.

The board of Allen Media (originally called Entertainment Studios when it was founded in 1993) has comprised founder, chairman and CEO Byron Allen, film producer Carolyn Folks (Allen’s mother) and chief operating officer Terence Hill.

Allen Media Group’s six newly added board of directors are each senior members of the company’s management team: Janice Arouh (president, network distribution); Mark DeVitre (EVP, general counsel); Eric Gould (EVP of finance and chief investment officer); Sydnie Karras (VP, chief accounting officer); Chris Malone (CFO); and Andy Temple (COO, broadcast sales and syndication).

The announcement of AMG’s upsized board comes after Allen this week contacted Paramount Global’s senior management and board with a $3.5 billion offer to buy BET Media Group — which, if consummated, would significantly expand Allen’s media holdings.

“For the past 30 years, I’ve been working with a small board of three directors, but now that Allen Media Group is much bigger as we’ve become highly acquisitive, I am excited to announce the addition of these six new board members,” Allen said in a statement. “I am extremely proud of this board because it is diverse, and the people who make it up are simply the best because they know our business and the media space innately, which allows us to move quickly and efficiently in this rapidly changing landscape.”

L.A.-based Allen Media Group owns/operates 27 broadcast TV stations in 21 U.S. markets and 12 cable networks serving nearly 300 million subscribers: The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel en Español, Pets.tv, Comedy.tv, Recipe.tv, Cars.tv, ES.tv, MyDestination.tv, JusticeCentral.tv, TheGrio Television Network, This TV and PATTRN.

Allen Media Group also owns streaming platforms HBCU Go, Sports.TV, TheGrio, The Weather Channel streaming app and Local Now (a free streaming AVOD service powered by The Weather Channel and content partners with news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information). In 2022, Allen acquired the Black News Channel in a bankruptcy proceeding for $11 million and merged it with TheGrio.

Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 73 television programs and owns a library of more than 5,000 hours of content across multiple genres. The company’s film distribution division specializes in wide-release commercial content.