By Selena Hill, Black Enterprise
Bryon Allen, a comedian-turned-business mogul, acquired the Weather Channel for $300 million through his company Entertainment Studios, according to reports.
Entertainment Studios purchased the TV network’s parent company, Weather Group, from its previous owners: Comcast Corp.’s NBCUniversal and private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. Those companies picked up Weather Group in 2008 for $3.5 billion, nearly 10 times more than its current purchasing value.
“The Weather Channel is one of the most trusted and extremely important cable networks, with information vitally important to the safety and protection of our lives. We welcome The Weather Channel, which has been seen in American households for nearly four decades, to our cable television networks division,” said Allen, according to TheWrap. He added that the acquisition of the cable network is part of his strategic plan to invest “billions of dollars over the next five years” to build a media empire.
Read more at http://www.blackenterprise.com/byron-allen-weather-channel-300-million/
