Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and distribution of first-run television series for U.S. television syndication. Under the Entertainment Studios Networks division, it also operates a group of digital cable and satellite channels, which broadcast a mix of original programs and the company's syndicated content.
In the late 2010s, the company made several major expansions to its operations, including: entering the film distribution market; acquiring The Weather Channel from NBCUniversal and Bain Capital; partnering with Sinclair Broadcast Group to operate the regional sports network chain Bally Sports via Diamond Sports Group; and its acquisition of television stations from another minority-owned media group, Bayou City Broadcasting.
History[]
TBA
Television series distributed by Entertainment Studios[]
Entertainment Studios has historically been known for its syndicated programs, which are distributed using a bartered model that does not require stations to pay a rights fee. The company sells national advertising inventory guaranteeing an audience in aggregate across all of its programs, and shares the revenue with stations.[4] Allen explained to Bloomberg in 2013 that this business model was attractive to stations that cannot afford to acquire programs from the syndication market, and that "we offer, across all our television shows, probably 20 million to 25 million viewers a week".[4]
The company has employed various cost-cutting techniques, including using non-union staff, and streamlining productions to reduce their complexity—a technique that also allows it to produce programming at an accelerated pace.[4] A prominent example of these practices are present in the company's court shows, which are dramatized with actors rather than arbitration-based like other popular entries in the genre; Allen explained that with this model, "we don't have the cost of airfare, hotels, security; we don’t have the costs of the claims, the settlements."[4] The studio's first production—Entertainers with Byron Allen—bypassed budget constraints by filming interviews at press junkets, using equipment that was provided by film studios for use by the media.[5]
These practices have allowed some of Entertainment Studios programs to bring in sizable amounts of advertising revenue, even with clearances in lesser-viewed time slots such as late night, or without having produced new episodes in an extended period of time.[4]
Court shows[]
- America's Court with Judge Ross
- Justice for All with Judge Cristina Pérez
- Justice with Judge Mablean
- Supreme Justice with Judge Karen
- The Verdict with Judge HatchettTemplate:Hsp[6]
- We the People with Lauren Lake (2011-2012; 2022-present)
- Equal Justice with Eboni K. Williams (Upcoming 2023)
- Mathis Court with Judge Mathis (Upcoming 2023)
- Justice for the People with Judge Milian (Upcoming 2023)[7]
Sitcoms[]
- The First Family (September 2012–April 25, 2015) syndicated
- Mr. Box Office (September 2012–April 25, 2015) syndicated [8]
Game shows[]
- Funny You Should Ask
- Who Wants to Date a Comedian?
Syndicated specials[]
- Comedy Jam
- Feel the Beat
- Happy Holidays America
- We Have a Dream
Talk and magazine series[]
- Beautiful Homes & Great Estates
- Career Day
- Comics Unleashed
- Designers, Fashions & Runways
- Entertainers with Byron Allen
- Global Business People
- The Gossip Queens
- Latin Lifestyles
- Kickin' It with Byron Allen
- Urban Style
- The Writer's Hot List
- The Young Icons
Other shows[]
- The American Athlete
- The World's Funniest Weather
Assets[]
Entertainment Studios Networks[]
- Main article: Entertainment Studios Networks
Cable and digital[]
Television channels[]
- Justice Central, launched December 10, 2012 on AT&T U-verse's family tier.[10]
- Weather Channel Group
- The Weather Channel
- Weatherscan
- Local Now
Allen Media Broadcasting[]
TBA
Television stations[]
Stations are arranged in alphabetical order by state and city of license.
Note:
- # Indicates stations that were previously owned by Bayou City Broadcasting, prior to its acquisition by Allen Media in 2019.
- § Indicates stations that were acquired from Heartland Media in 2020.
- ¤ Indicates stations that were acquired by Allen Media as divestitures from Gray Television's acquisitions of Quincy Media and Meredith Local Media in 2021.
| City of license / Market | Station | Channel TV (RF) |
Owned since | Network affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Huntsville, Alabama | WAAY-TV § | 31 (17) | 2020 | ABC |
| Montgomery, Alabama | WALE-LD | 17 (16) | 2023 | Montgomery Weather Channel, Laff (DT2), Ion Mystery (DT3), Jewelry Television (DT4), Movies! (DT5), Heroes & Icons (DT6), Comet (DT7) |
| WCOV-TV | 20 (22) | 2023 | Fox, Antenna TV (DT2), This TV (DT3) | |
| WIYC | 48 (19) | 2023 | Cozi TV, Decades / MyNetworkTV (DT2), Heroes & Icons (DT3), Court TV (DT4), TBD (DT5), Comet (DT6), Charge! (DT7) | |
| Tucson, Arizona | KVOA ¤ | 4 (23) | 2021 |
|
| Chico - Redding, California | KHSL-TV § | 12 (36) | 2020 |
|
| KNVN | 24 (24) | 2020 1 |
| |
| Honolulu, Hawaii | KITV | 4 (20) | 2021 |
|
| KIKU | 20 (19) | 2022 |
| |
| Hilo, Hawaii | KHVO (Satellite of KITV) |
4 (18) | 2021 |
|
| Wailuku, Hawaii | KMAU (Satellite of KITV) |
4 (29) | 2021 |
|
| Harrisburg - Carbondale, Illinois | WSIL-TV ¤ | 3 (34) | 2021 | ABC |
| Poplar Bluff, Missouri | KPOB-TV ¤ (Satellite of WSIL-TV) |
15 (15) | 2021 | ABC |
| Rockford, Illinois | WREX ¤ | 13 (13) | 2021 |
|
| Evansville, Indiana | WEVV-TV # | 44 (28) | 2019 |
|
| WEEV-LD # (Repeater of WEVV-DT2) |
47 (21) | 2019 | Fox/MyNetworkTV | |
| Fort Wayne, Indiana | WFFT-TV § | 55 (20) | 2020 | Fox |
| Terre Haute, Indiana | WTHI-TV § | 10 (10) | 2020 |
|
| West Lafayette, Indiana | WLFI-TV § | 18 (11) | 2020 |
|
| Mason City, Iowa - Rochester, Minnesota | KIMT § | 3 (24) | 2020 |
|
| Waterloo - Cedar Rapids, Iowa | KWWL ¤ | 7 (7) | 2021 |
|
| Lafayette, Louisiana | KADN-TV # | 15 (16) | 2019 |
|
| KLAF-LD # | 14 (14) | 2019 | NBC | |
| Flint - Saginaw, Michigan | WJRT-TV ¤ | 12 (12) | 2021 | ABC MeTV (DT2) |
| Tupelo - Columbus, Mississippi | WTVA § | 9 (11) | 2020 |
|
| WLOV-TV | 27 (16) | 2020 2 | Fox | |
| Eugene, Oregon | KEZI § | 9 (9) | 2020 | ABC |
| Medford - Klamath Falls, Oregon | KDRV § | 12 (12) | 2020 | ABC |
| KDKF § (Satellite of KDRV) |
31 (29) | 2020 | ABC | |
| La Crosse - Eau Claire, Wisconsin | WXOW ¤ | 19 (28) | 2021 | ABC |
| WQOW ¤ (Semi-satellite of WXOW) |
18 (25) | 2021 | ABC | |
| Madison, Wisconsin | WKOW ¤ | 27 (26) | 2021 | ABC |
| Wausau - Crandon, Wisconsin | WAOW ¤ | 9 (9) | 2021 | ABC |
| WMOW ¤ (Satellite of WAOW) |
4 (13) | 2021 | ABC |
Other Notes:
- 1 Owned by Maxair Media, LLC., Allen Media operates the station under a shared services agreement (SSA).
- 2 Owned by Coastal Television Broadcasting Company LLC., Allen Media operates the station under a shared services agreement.
Television networks[]
The following over-the-air specialty networks were acquired by Allen Media Group from MGM Television in October 2020.[11]
- TheGrio, a network focusing on African-American culture.
- This TV, a network that primarily focuses on movies from the MGM library.
Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures[]
| Year | Release Date | Film title | Director | Gross[12] | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | June 16, 2017 | 47 Meters Down | Johannes Roberts | $44.3 million | [13] |
| September 22, 2017 | Friend Request | Simon Verhoeven | $3.7 million | [14] | |
| December 22, 2017 | Hostiles | Scott Cooper | $40.9 million | [15] | |
| 2018 | March 9, 2018 | The Hurricane Heist | Rob Cohen | $15.8 million | [16] |
| April 6, 2018 | Chappaquiddick | John Curran | $18 million | [17] | |
| 2019 | January 11, 2019 | Replicas | Jeffrey Nachmanoff | $8.1 million | [18] |
| August 16, 2019 | 47 Meters Down: Uncaged | Johannes Roberts | $22.2 million | [19] | |
| September 20, 2019 | The Wedding Year | Robert Luketic | — | [20] | |
| November 1, 2019 | Arctic Dogs | Aaron Woodley | $3.6 million | [21] |
TBA
Diamond Sports Group[]
TBA
References[]
- ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Siegel, Tatiana (December 20, 2017). [TBA "Byron Allen on "Chasing Studio Crumbs," Weinstein's Future and Christian Bale's 'Hostiles'"] Check
|url=value (help). The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved December 26, 2017. - ↑ [TBA Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Acquires The Weather Channel TV Network For $300 Million]. Deadline Hollywood (March 22, 2018).
- ↑ Albiniak, Paige (March 22, 2018). [TBA Byron Allen Acquires The Weather Group in $300 Million Deal]. Broadcasting & Cable.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.[TBA "Byron Allen, Former Stand-Up Comic, Runs the 'Walmart of Television'"] Check
|url=value (help). Bloomberg. December 13, 2013. Retrieved March 12, 2023. - ↑ Appleford, Steve (2022-08-22). [YNS How Byron Allen Got the Last Laugh].
- ↑ [TBA Entertainment Studios Orders 130 More Episodes For Each Of Its Five Court Shows]. Deadline Hollywood (September 26, 2013).
- ↑ Rice (April 6, 2023). [TBA 'The People's Court' Judge Marilyn Milian Launching New Legal Show With Allen Media Group].
- ↑ Block, Alex (April 4, 2013). [TBA BET Networks Nabs Two Sitcoms in Multimillion-Dollar Reverse-Syndication Deal]. The Hollywood Reporter.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Busch, Anita (July 14, 2016). [TBA Anchor Bay And Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Join In Multi-Year Deal]. Deadline Hollywood.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedthr - ↑ [TBA "Allen Media Group Buys Two Networks From MGM,"] from Deadline, 10/28/2020
- ↑ [TBA Entertainment Studios All Time Box Office Results] (en). IMDb.com, Inc.
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedvty - ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Busch, Anita (January 14, 2016). [TBA "Freestyle Releasing Gets 'Friend Request'"] Check
|url=value (help). Deadline. Retrieved October 7, 2017. - ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs nameddl - ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Ramos, Dino-Day (July 17, 2017). [TBA "Rob Cohen's 'The Hurricane Heist' Acquired By Entertainment Studios"] Check
|url=value (help). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 4, 2017. - ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Busch, Anita; Fleming, Mike (September 8, 2017). [TBA "Ted Kennedy Scandal Film 'Chappaquiddick' Lands $20M Commitment From Byron Allen At Toronto"] Check
|url=value (help). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 25, 2018. - ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Fleming, Mike (September 8, 2017). [TBA "Keanu Reeves' 'Replicas' First Big Toronto Deal: Byron Allen Pays $4 Million"] Check
|url=value (help). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 25, 2018. - ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Busch, Anita (October 26, 2017). [TBA "Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios Will Distribute Indie Sequel '48 Meters Down'"] Check
|url=value (help). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 26, 2017. - ↑ Billington, Alex (August 28, 2019). [TBA Sarah Hyland in First Trailer for Romantic Comedy 'The Wedding Year'].
- ↑ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wiseman, Andreas (December 3, 2018). [TBA "Byron Allen's ESMP Takes On U.S. Distribution Of Animation 'Arctic Dogs' Voiced By Jeremy Renner, Alec Baldwin"] Check
|url=value (help). Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved December 3, 2018.
External links[]
- TBA
- [TBA Allen Media Broadcasting]
Template:The Weather Channel Template:Fox Sports Networks
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