Byron Allen Interested In Buying BET From Paramount Global

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Tyler Perry already in talks to buy network

Byron Allen at H. Naylor Fitzhugh Conference
Byron Allen (Image credit: Ed Marshall Photography for Gravy/AMG)

Media mogul Byron Allen said he’s interested in buying BET from Paramount Global.

Earlier reports indicated that Paramount Global was interested in selling a stake in its BET business and that the company was in talks with producer Tyler Perry.

"Byron Allen is interested in buying BET, and he will be pursuing the acquisition of the network,” a spokesman for Allen Media Group said.

The BET business also includes the cable network VH1, the streaming service BET Plus and BET Studios.

Allen made a splash by buying The Weather Channel in 2018. He also owns a string of local TV stations and has vowed to spend $10 billion to build up his broadcast business.

Allen has also been an advocate for Black economic empowerment, suing cable companies Comcast and Charter Communications to get his channels carried and suing McDonald’s to get a bigger share of its advertising spending for Black-owned media. ■

Jon Lafayette
Jon Lafayette

Jon has been business editor of Broadcasting+Cable since 2010. He focuses on revenue-generating activities, including advertising and distribution, as well as executive intrigue and merger and acquisition activity. Just about any story is fair game, if a dollar sign can make its way into the article. Before B+C, Jon covered the industry for TVWeek, Cable World, Electronic Media, Advertising Age and The New York Post. A native New Yorker, Jon is hiding in plain sight in the suburbs of Chicago.