BuzzFeed, the digital media company that was once home to so many internet quizzes, is now in the hands of Byron Allen.
The Detroit-born comic and multi-media mogul has acquired a majority stake in BuzzFeed and is investing $120 million in the company through his company Allen Family Digital, Variety reported Monday. Under the deal, Allen will become CEO of the 20-year-old internet business.
Allen, whose “Comics Unleashed” is on the verge of taking over the CBS time slot currently occupied by “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert,” said the company — which also owns HuffPost — will venture further into the world of AI. Once the deal closes, which is expected to happen by late May, BuzzFeed founder Jonah Peretti will become “president of BuzzFeed AI,” a newly created position at the company.
“BuzzFeed and HuffPost have become two iconic global digital media brands with powerful audience reach and strong cultural importance,” Allen said in a statement. “Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content. As of this moment, with the power of AI, BuzzFeed is officially chasing YouTube to become another premiere free video streaming service.”
Allen, 65, was born in Detroit in 1961. He moved to Los Angeles with his mother in 1968, following her divorce.
Allen has racked up a ton of credits over the course of his career. He hosted “The Byron Allen Show” from 1989-1992 and later “Entertainers with Byron Allen,” which has been on the air since 2000. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2021.
He is also the founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, the L.A.-based company he founded in 1993. He owns 13 network affiliate broadcast TV stations (ABC, CBS and NBC) in 11 U.S. markets and 10 HD television networks ((including The Weather Channel, Pets.tv, Comedy.tv) which serve nearly 275 million subscribers.
agraham@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Native Detroiter expands his media empire with acquisition of BuzzFeed
Reporting by Adam Graham, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
