Report: Byron Allen May Acquire ABC Networks From Disney

Media mogul Byron Allen has bid $10 billion to buy Walt Disney Co.’s ABC TV network, local stations and the FX and National Geographic cable channels, an Allen spokesperson told TheWrap. Allen Media Group owns 36 affiliate broadcast TV stations of ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX networks in 21 U.S. markets and 12 24-hour HD TV networks with close to 220 million subscribers. Allen properties include The Weather Channel, The Grio an HBCUGo. Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 73 TV programs, making it one of the largest independent producers an distributors of first-run syndicated TV programming for broadcast TV stations. A warrior in the fight against racial discrimination in corporate America, Allen has threatened in the past to sue the entire advertising industry if they don’t spend fairly with Black media. The cable network industry has been in decline for years and strikes by writers and actors guilds have exacerbated the problem this year, with scant fresh content on cable and broadcast networks. This year’s falling viewership likely resulted in significantly lower ad revenues for ABC and the cable networks being sold, wrote Derek Baine, managing director at Media Forecasting Experts, a consultancy that helps...