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American media mogul Byron Allen has renewed his ABC affiliations across seven US markets, securing network programming for stations he has spent the past year trying to sell.
Allen Media Broadcasting, the television arm of Allen Media Group, signed a multi-year extension with Disney's ABC Entertainment Network covering KITV in Honolulu, KEZI in Eugene, KDRV in Medford, WKOW in Madison, WXOW in La Crosse, WAOW in Wausau and WJRT in Flint. Financial terms were not disclosed and the duration was not specified.
Allen said ABC had been an outstanding partner to the seven stations, delivering programming across entertainment, news and premium sports. Susi D'Ambra-Coplan, senior vice president of affiliate relations at Disney Entertainment Television, said the extension ensured continued access to ABC programming for the communities the stations serve.
A shrinking portfolio
The renewal comes as Allen reduces his broadcast holdings. In 2025 he put 28 stations across 21 markets on the market through investment bank Moelis & Company, in a process reported at the time as intended to reduce debt at Allen Media Group.
Gray Media has since acquired 10 of them for $171 million, taking stations in Huntsville, Paducah, Columbus-Tupelo, Terre Haute and West Lafayette among others. Allen Media Broadcasting now operates 13 ABC, CBS and NBC affiliates across 11 markets, down from 28 across 21.
At least two of the seven stations covered by the ABC renewal, KITV in Honolulu and WJRT in Flint, appeared on the list taken to market.
Affiliation agreements are central to what a station group is worth. A buyer acquiring a local station is buying the right to carry network programming in that market, and stations without secure network deals are considerably harder to value and sell.
The wider business
Allen built Allen Media Group from Entertainment Studios, founded in 1993 on a model of producing content cheaply, placing it with local affiliates through time-buy arrangements and retaining the advertising rights. He bought The Weather Channel for $300 million in 2018.
He is running the same time-buy model in late night. CBS agreed in April to fill the 11:35 p.m. slot vacated by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with two back-to-back episodes of Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen from May 22, with Allen's company buying the airtime and selling the advertising itself.
The company was independently valued at more than $4.5 billion in October 2022.
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