Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group said it hired Christopher Young as chief financial officer of its The Weather Channel unit.

Young will also serve as executive VP of Allen Media Group, the parent company, which has been tightening its belt and laying off staffers. The company’s TV stations have also reportedly been slow in paying programming fees to the networks with which they are affiliated.

Young had previously been CFO at Spanish-language media company Entravision Communications and will report to  Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, and Christopher Malone, executive VP and CFO of AMG.

He replaces Bill Higgs as CFO at The Weather Channel. Higgs retired.

“Chris brings extensive finance and operational experience in the media industry spanning over three decades. His strong expertise and tenured capital markets background are valuable assets,” Allen said. “Chris adds great depth to our executive leadership team, and he will be instrumental to our business as we continue to grow rapidly and execute on a number of long-term strategic initiatives.” 

Before Entravision, Young was president of Vista Media. He also worked with the Bank of Montreal, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and Chase Manhattan Bank.

“I have been following Allen Media Group’s growth for years and I’m thoroughly impressed with what Byron and his talented executive team have accomplished,“ Young said. “Simply put, because of their vision, drive, and discipline, Allen Media Group consistently outperforms the industry. I look forward to working with the Allen Media Group team to help execute our continued growth and long-term strategies.”

As you may have heard, there’s a solar eclipse going on Monday, April 8, and the news networks are all over the uncommon event. The so-called path of totality will run from northern Mexico, through Texas and across the Midwest, including Indianapolis and Cleveland, then on to Maine. The last total solar eclipse in the U.S. happened in 2017, and the next one, after April 8, is scheduled for 2044. 

The Weather Channel has Stephanie Abrams kicking things off that day at 6 a.m., reporting from Fredericksburg, Texas on America’s Morning Headquarters. Heather Zons hosts the interactive live chat called Follow the Shadow. 

Weather Channel will have meteorologists up and down the swath of the country experiencing the total eclipse, including Alex Wilson in Dallas, Jim Cantore in Indianapolis and Felicia Combs in Russellville, Arkansas. 

ABC News and Nat Geo will team up on the two-hour live special Eclipse Across America, on at 2 p.m. Monday on a range of networks, including ABC, Nat Geo, Nat Geo Wild, Disney Plus and Hulu. David Muir and Linsey Davis anchor, with assists from Nat Geo talent Mariana van Zeller, Cristina Mittermeier and Babak Tafreshi, among others. Reports come from Del Rio, Texas, Carbondale, Illinois and Indianapolis, along with other sites.

On CBS, it’s Total Eclipse of the Heartland, on CBS and CBS News Streaming April 8 from 2 to 3:30 ET. CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and CBS Mornings co-host Tony Dokoupil anchor from Indianapolis. Janet Shamlian will be in Kerrville, Texas, Omar Villafranca in Dallas and Dave Malkoff in Cleveland, along with other correspondents in other locales.  

The CBS stations are in on it too, including KYW Philadelphia chief meteorologist Bill Kelly on the set in Philly, WCBS New York anchor Kristine Johnson in Niagara Falls and WBZ Boston reporter Mike Sullivan in Burlington. 

Over at NBC, Lester Holt anchors Total Eclipse 2024 starting at 2 p.m. from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He’ll anchor NBC Nightly News that evening from Indianapolis too. 

Among the Today crew, Al Roker will be in Dallas, and Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb, Craig Melvin and other talent at the Museum of Natural History in New York. Correspondents will be up and down the eclipse path, including Jesse Kirsch in Cleveland, Kate Snow in Houlton, Maine and Maura Barrett in Bloomington, Indiana.

Correspondent Katy Tur anchors coverage of the eclipse beginning at 2 p.m. on MSNBC. 

NBC’s owned stations will cover the event on their FAST channels starting at noon ET. KXAS-KXTX Dallas-Fort Worth produces the live-streaming special. 

Fox Weather, for its part, offers America’s Total Eclipse that day, with meteorologists and correspondents in a bunch of cities, including Stephen Morgan in Dallas, Kendall Smith in Indianapolis and Janice Dean in Little Rock. 

CNN’s coverage will include Brianna Keilar and Boris Sanchez on CNN News Central from 1-4 p.m. ET, and CNN en Español anchor Rey Rodriguez reporting from Mazatlán, Mexico. Meteorologists Chad Myers, Allison Chinchar and Elisa Raffa will provide eclipse context from the studio. 

NewsNation has Brian Entin, senior national correspondent, anchoring with NewsNation Now talent Nichole Berlie and Connell McShane from Chicago at 1 to 4:30 p.m. ET. Correspondent Brooke Shafer will report from the Indianapolis Speedway and Caitlyn Becker from Niagara Falls, among other correspondents in various locales. 

The Weather Channel said season two of its series Fast: Home Rescue will debut February 17.

Season two is sponsored by Procter & Gamble brands Cascade and Charmin. The brands appear in episodes throughout the season in scenes that show how their performance helps save resources like energy and water.

One episode will highlight Charmin’s “Protect, Grow and Restore” effort. In partnership with the Arbor Day Foundation, Charmin aims to plant 1 million trees by 2025.

Fast: Home Rescue stars former NFL player Tre Boston and his wife Cierra Boston. They help rebuild homes impacted by extreme weather, like tornadoes, within five days.

Season 2 features homes in Arkansas, Mississippi and Oklahoma. 

Fast: Home Rescue appears on The Weather Channel’s television network. All episodes can be seen on The Weather Channel streaming app.

The Weather Channel is owned by Allen Media Group.

Allen Media Group said it will be working with analytics company datafuelX to create media plans for data-driven linear campaigns on AMG’s networks, starting with The Weather Channel.

DatafuelX’s M3 platform enables planning and forecasting against any audience and currency, including VideoAmp, which AMG has been using since the upfronts.

“Marketers are increasingly becoming data-driven and desire better outcomes against the audiences that matter most to them,” Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of AMG, said. “Our partnership with datafuelX allows us to deliver precisely that to our brand partners. We are confident that with the combination of M3 and VideoAmp we will be able to uncover the full value of our audience for our advertisers.”

Using VideoAmp’s big data-based measurement will make data-driven campaigns more stable and efficient and will produce more timely results, AMG said. 

“The industry is poised to take advantage of the move from panel-based measurement to nearly census-based measurement that will drive more audience outcome-based selling,” datafuelX CEO Jay Amato said. “However, to do that well, the sell side needs a solution to forecast, optimize, and steward the deals. Our M3 platform is the only SaaS platform designed to do just that. With this partnership, AMG will be able to realize greater yield and assure buyers of the value their inventory offers.”

The Weather Channel Television Network, part of Allen Media Group, said that it transacted its upfront deals using VideoAmp as its primary currency.

VideoAmp is one of several big-data based measurement companies challenging Nielsen's dominance in the TV audience business.

“The Weather Channel is very proud to be the first network to transition to VideoAmp, proving that reliable big data measurement is the future of the television industry,” Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, said. “We made the move at the start of the Upfronts because our clients deserve much stronger data. VideoAmp allows us to better serve our clients by showing the efficacy and return on investment our audiences and content deliver.”

Allen announced that his company had retained VideoAmp to handle TV measurement at its upfront in April, remarking that “Nielsen does a horrible job.” 

Allen has sued Nielsen for fraud, alleging that Nielsen measurement failure cost his company money.

Allen Media Group signed a 10-year deal with VideoAmp in June making VideoAmp its primary and preferred advertising currency.

“Allen Media Group is making bold decisions to push the industry towards smarter and more sophisticated ways of measuring viewers. The Weather Channel moving its entire Upfront to VideoAmp currency is a massive testament to their commitment to increasing the value of media for their advertiser clients and viewers,” VideoAmp founder and CEO Ross McCray said.

Also Read: Dentsu Uses VideoAmp As Currency in Multi-Network Ad Campaign

“At Horizon we are always focused on innovation and improving our clients’ impact against their advertising commitments. We fully support The Weather Channel’s move to VideoAmp as their primary currency and being able to demonstrate to our clients the improvement of measurement and efficacy against their media campaigns,” David Campanelli, executive VP and chief investment officer of Horizon Media, said.

The Weather Channel and its climate brand Pattrn are working with Covering Climate Now to highlight winners of the 2023 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards.

The awards will be announced during Climate Week NYC, which takes place September 17-24.

Winners will be featured the week of September 18 on the Pattrn show live on The Weather Channel. 

“Extreme weather is the obvious gateway into the climate story, and no news outlet in the United States pays more or better attention to the climate connection to extreme weather than our esteemed partners at The Weather Channel,” Mark Hertsgaard, the co-founder and executive director of Covering Climate Now, said. “We’re honored to partner with The Weather Channel during Climate Week NYC and beyond on climate coverage that arms the public with the power that knowledge gives.”

The Weather Channel will have exclusive coverage of other Climate Week NYC activities during America’s Morning Headquarters and Pattrn.

“It’s essential that people understand the importance of climate news and why these stories need to be shared, told, and illustrated accurately and objectively,” Nora Zimmett, president of news and original series for The Weather Channel, said. “It means so much to us that we’re able to highlight the amazing work of these journalists. Our ongoing goal is to consistently further the climate conversation, make more people aware of the urgency of the crisis, and show appreciation for the everyday people doing their part to make a better planet for all of us.”

President Joe Biden sat down for an interview about climate change with The Weather Channel Tuesday.

The interview, conducted by meteorologist Stephanie Abrams at the Grand Canyon, will air on The Weather Channel starting Wednesday at 6 a.m. ET. during its America’s Morning Headquarters program.

President Biden has said that climate change is the “number one issue facing humanity” and that combatting climate change is a core tenet of his presidency. As Americans face increasingly extreme weather events, The Weather Channel has bens aggressively reporting on ways to preserve the environment.

“Climate change and global warming are the greatest threats to human beings on planet Earth and that is why this interview is so important,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group, the parent company of The Weather Channel. “Understanding the effects of climate change and the actions necessary to combat it can help save lives. Saving lives and protecting property is the core mission of The Weather Channel. We are proud to be leading the climate conversation with the president of the United States and other world leaders.” 

The interview will also stream via the Weather Channel Streaming TV App.

The Weather Channel said it has expanded its relationship with Vizio, giving users of Vizio smart TV sets access to The Weather Channel streaming connected TV app.

The app provides viewers who are not pay TV subscribers with access to the Weather Channel, original on-demand programming, customizable weather tracking and live radar, satellite and severe weather alerts.

“We are pleased that millions of Vizio users now have access to America's most trusted news source,” Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of The Weather Channel’s parent company, Allen Media Group, said. “Through this agreement with Vizio, we are able to expand our reach to include millions of Vizio users who can now access personalized weather tracking and best-in-class weather, news, and entertainment content on the Weather Channel streaming app.”

The app costs $2.99 a month and for a limited time, Vizio users can try it for free for seven days.

Pay TV subscribers can authenticate to access The Weather Channel programming

“Vizio TVs are the heartbeat of the home and weather plays an integral role in our users’ daily routines,” Vizio group VP, platform content and partnerships Katherine Pond said.  “Extending our relationship with the Allen Media Group with the launch of the Weather Channel app adds a valuable dimension to Vizio as a daily trusted source for weather and additional programming with customizable features where it matters most.”

The Weather Channel and Google News Initiative said they have formed a partnership to launch the SkyFx Camera Network.

The network will deploy its 360-degree cameras equipped with weather data collection stations in “multiple locations” throughout the country. The network will gather weather data and visuals to enhance The Weather Channel’s coverage.

“The SkyFx Camera Network in partnership with Google News Initiative furthers our mission to keep the public informed and prepared on weather conditions and threats across the country,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, parent company of The Weather Channel. “We take our position as the most trusted news network very seriously and we will continue to innovate and launch new tools that enable us to deliver real-time, critical weather news and information that empowers individuals to take actionable steps to safeguard themselves and their loved ones during severe weather events.”

Allen Media Group works with Google in areas including YouTube, Google Play, Google TV Marketing and Google Cloud.

“This project exemplifies two key principles of Google and our Google News Initiative: using technology to help people all over the world. SkyFx Camera Network demonstrates how a media outlet can develop a technological concept to provide its users with relevant information, as well as a product that will be used for the benefit and improvement of people's lives,“ Google director of news partnerships Chrissy Towle said. “We are thrilled to be a part of this project.”

The Weather Channel’s meteorologists will be getting a new look in the spring as they wear clothing and gear from Carhartt while standing in the rain and facing off with hurricanes as part of an integration deal.

The brand will be prominent when worn by anchors and reporters as they describe weather conditions from the field starting this spring, giving Carhartt the most hours of brand integration ever seen on The Weather Channel, part of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group.

Carhartt insulated jackets and vests are designed to stand up to winter conditions and the company’s Rain Defender pants are in the forecast for hurricane season.

“We’re excited to announce our apparel partnership with Carhartt,” said Nora Zimmett, president of news and original series for Weather Group. “As America's most trusted news brand, our meteorologists are often out in extreme weather conditions, delivering life-saving reporting. This new collaboration between The Weather Channel and Carhartt brings together two brands that know how to tough it out in difficult conditions to keep Americans safe and comfortable.”

Financial terms were not disclosed. Land’s End had previously been the Weather Channel’s official outfitter.

“As the world’s premium workwear brand since 1889, Carhartt has always been a brand for all hardworking people that endure varying weather conditions on the job,” Susan Hennike, chief brand officer at Carhartt, said. “Meteorologists in the field experience some of the most extreme weather conditions imaginable, and we know that many people rely on meteorologists to inform them about the gear they wear while working outside. Partnering with The Weather Channel is a natural fit to not only keep meteorologists protected from the elements, but to showcase hardworking gear performance in its most natural element: outside and in the field.”

The Weather Channel said that former National Football League safety Tre Boston and his wife Cierra will be the new hosts of Fast: Home Rescue.

The series shows rapid repairs of homes damaged by severe weather and natural disasters.

The Bostons will make their debut on the show June 18.

Weather Channel said former hosts Cody and Felicia Walker's cheidles did not align with production for these new episodes. They could return in a future season.

Also Read: Allen Media Group Takes Series ‘Fast: Home Rescue’ to Syndication

The series also features Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit organization that the Bostons have volunteered with to help homeowners in need. The couple also own a non-profit organization called the Tre Boston Beyond Belief Foundation, which works with detention centers, abuse shelters and at-risk programs to educate, mentor and support youth in underserved communities.,

Fast: Home Rescue is produced by Fight or Flight Studios and is executive produced by Rob Hill, Noah Mark and Sam Wasserman. Noah Mark also serves as showrunner. 

Episodes of Fast: Home Rescue will be available to watch on-demand after airing on broadcast via The Weather Channel’s Connected TV app.  ■

Allen Media Group said it is working with LiveRamp to make advertising inventory on The Weather Channel TV Streaming App and Local Now addressable.

LiveRamp’s Authenticated Traffic Solution provides authenticated first-party connectivity to enable data-driven, programmatic targeting on people-based inventory. Marketer can reach addressable audiences in a privacy-safe manner. 

Working with LiveRamp also enables better measurement of impressions.

“Allen Media Group is ahead of the curve in understanding the importance consumers are placing on their privacy, and the shifting landscape of regulations and market trends that require our ecosystem to build stronger, more trustworthy relationships with consumers,” said Scott Howe, CEO, LiveRamp. “Allen Media Group’s implementation of ATS is a sustainable solution for all aspects of privacy, while creating value for marketers looking to reach these addressable audiences.”

Allen Media Group launched the Weather Channel TV streaming app last year. Pay TV subscribers can authenticate to view Weather Channel programming and non-subscribers can bu direct-to-consumer subscription packages.

“The industry is at a crossroads when it comes to privacy, and we’re looking ahead so we can meet today’s demands for privacy, but also anticipate where the market is going moving forward,” Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, said. “Amidst industry and macroeconomic pressures, Allen Media Group’s deployment of ATS provides a critical solution to make every impression addressable and measurable for marketers, while also maintaining industry-best standards for consumer privacy.” ■

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group said it is taking the weekly one-hour series Fast: Home Rescue to broadcast syndication for fall 2023.

The series, which highlights home renovations for families impacted by natural disasters, had its debut last summer on The Weather Channel, the cable network owned by Allen.

In each episode Cody and Felicia Walker — the brother and sister-in-law of late actor Paul Walker — rebuild homes destroyed by storms. The couple runs Reach Out Worldwide, a disaster-relief organization started by the actor.

“The new series Fast: Home Rescue is at the intersection of extreme weather events and home renovation,“ Byron Allen, Allen Media Group’s founder, chairman and CEO, said. “This transformative show reveals the destructive nature of tornadoes, fires and floods, while highlighting the powerful recovery stories of each family. Viewers will experience many emotions during the one-hour episodes, from heartbreak, to surprise, and heart-warming moments of triumph.”

Fast Home Rescue is produced by Allen Media Group in conjunction with Fight or Flight Studios and is distributed exclusively by Allen Media Group Television.   ■

Below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Sept. 26-Oct. 2, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio's Inscape, and network and show TV ad impressions insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio's TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 19 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

The NFL stayed atop our watch-time ranking for the fourth consecutive week. Week Four NFL action accounted for 6.97% of minutes watched from Sept. 26-Oct. 2, which is up from 6.49% the previous week.

Some additional insights about the top programming on TV:

• With Hurricane Ian bearing down on the southeast U.S., audiences tuned into The Weather Channel coverage on shows including America’s Morning Headquarters (No. 15 by watch-time), Weather Underground (No. 18), Live Coverage: Tracking Ian (No. 20) and Storm Center (No. 21).
• Additional week-over-week newcomers to our ranking include CBS Mornings (climbing from No. 27 to No. 13 by minutes watched) and NBC Nightly News With Lester Holt (up from No. 33 to No. 25).
• Fox News programs Fox & Friends (from No. 22 to No. 12) and America Reports (from No. 25 to No. 14) also made sizable week-over-week jumps by watch-time.
• Western drama Gunsmoke returns to our top 10, jumping from No. 17 to No. 10 week-over-week.

CBS hops from No. 4 to No. 1 week-over-week in our list of most-watched networks, thanks in large part to football. The NFL and college football accounted for over 31% of watch-time on the network, helping fuel a climb to 8.94% of minutes watched – up from 7.33% the previous week.

Additional insights around the most-watched networks from Sept. 26-Oct. 2:

• Hurricane Ian concerns created a surge in The Weather Channel viewership, as the network flies from No. 46 to No. 7 week-over-week.
• NFL interest is not just limited to the games themselves, as NFL Network hurdles up to No. 18 by watch-time on the week (from No. 34 the previous week).
• A Star Wars movie marathon helped power TNT’s rise from No. 30 to No. 25 week-over-week.
• CNN and Fox News both increased week-over-week watch-time, coinciding with more news interest overall.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only.

The NFL sits at No. 1 once again in our ranking, as live games delivered 14.4% of TV ad impressions. That’s up from 13.7% the previous week, as the league had just one Monday night game (vs. two overlapping contests the week before).

More insights about the top programs by TV ad impressions:

• Hurricane tracking means The Weather Channel programming pops up throughout our ranking – led by America’s Morning Headquarters at No. 8, then Storm Center (No. 9), Live Coverage: Tracking Ian (No. 15) and Weather Underground (No. 19).
• Overall, news- and talk-related programming account for 16 (nearly two-thirds) of the shows in our ranking, compared to 13 the previous week.
• Aside from the weather-related programs, CBS Mornings is one of the biggest week-over-week risers in our ranking, moving from No. 28 to No. 14.
• The Voice is the lone reality TV show in our ranking this week, staying at No. 6 in the early weeks of the new season.

CBS benefits from the Sunday NFL doubleheader (which it typically alternates with Fox) to stay at No. 1 in our TV-ad-impressions-by-network ranking. The network had nearly 18.1% of TV ad impressions from Sept. 26-Oct. 2, up from 13.8% the previous week.

Additional insights around the top networks by impressions:

• The Weather Channel’s share of TV ad impressions climbed by nearly 4x week-over-week, from 1.00% to 3.73%.
• Cable sports networks continued to cash in on football and baseball action, led by ESPN (No. 6), then Fox Sports 1 (No. 12), MLB Network (No. 13), NFL Network (No. 15), ESPN2 (No. 16), SEC Network (No. 19) and Big Ten Network (No. 23).
• Speaking of, both the SEC Network and Big Ten Network are new week-over-week arrivals in our ranking, thanks in part to airing games with top teams – with Georgia appearing on the SEC Network and Ohio State landing on the Big Ten Network.
• NBC’s share of impressions climbed from 12.7% to 13.4% week-over-week, with news programs accounting for nearly a third of that total.

ESPN and Fox News battled to a weekly cable primetime tie during the last week in September.

ESPN, helped by the more than 7 million viewers who tuned into its Sept. 26 Dallas Cowboys-New York Giants Monday Night Football game, and Fox News – buoyed by its coverage of powerful Hurricane Ian’s landfall early last week in Florida – each averaged 2.1 million viewers during the week of Sept. 26 to Oct. 2, according to Nielsen.

MSNBC pulled into third place with 1.1 million viewers followed by HGTV’s 809,000 viewers, CNN’s 770,000 viewers and TLC’s 748,000 watchers. Hurricane Ian coverage also bolstered The Weather Channel, which finished seventh with 700,000 viewers, followed by Hallmark Channel (698,000), INSP (664,000) and TBS (580,000), said network officials.

Fox News averaged 1.4 million viewers on a 24-hour basis to top all cable networks for the 39th straight week, followed by ESPN (815,000 viewers), MSNBC (779,000) CNN (670,000) and The Weather Channel (662,000), said Nielsen. ■  

Stations situated on the southwestern coast of Florida are hustling to keep viewers informed of Hurricane Ian’s frightful trip through the area. That includes stations in Tampa-St. Petersburg (Sarasota), which is DMA No. 13, and Fort Myers-Naples, which is DMA No. 54.

Stations are streaming live to keep users up to date. At WFLA.com just after 3 p.m. ET, meteorologist Jeff Berardelli stressed that Ian was “about to make landfall,” and mentioned wind gusts in the region reaching over 100 mph.

The story changed minutes later. Over in Fort Myers, a live story on WINKNews.com reported that the National Hurricane Center said Ian made landfall at 3:10 p.m. A reporter then shared that station power had gone out, with WINK shifting to a backup generator.

Fort Myers Broadcasting Co. owns WINK.

Part of Nexstar Media Group, the WFLA Tampa website reported that Gov. Ron DeSantis labeled Ian “just shy of a Category 5 hurricane,” and added that the storm would be “incredibly dangerous.”

Elsewhere in Tampa, WTVT meteorologist Dave Osterberg added some perspective to Ian striking Florida. “We don’t expect the track to change,” he said. “The biggest storm surge will come to the right of where it makes landfall. Say it makes landfall in Port Charlotte, then you're going to see this big wall of water coming up into the Fort Myers, Cape Coral, North Fort Myers, up into these rivers. That's going to be a problem — 10-15 feet storm surge for those folks.”

Fox owns WTVT, known as Fox 13. Station newscasts are simulcast on various area radio stations.

Part of Tegna, WTSP Tampa said the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in St. Petersburg has been closed. The station website noted a “life-threatening storm surge.”

Spectrum has Bay News 9 in the Tampa area. The website offers a live chat with meteorologists, and shared a story on a family of nine that had moved to the area three days before, then had to evacuate.

On the WBBH Fort Myers website, there’s a list of power outages by county, with Charlotte County counting 64,440 as of 1:15 p.m. Sept. 28. Known as NBC2, WBBH reports can also be heard on a group of local radio stations.

WBBH also shared that Comcast has free WiFi hotspots for the displaced.

The station is part of Waterman Broadcasting.

Weather.com led with the headline “Landfalling Cat 4 Monster”, which shifted to “Monster Ian Makes Landfall” a short while later. The site reports Ian “making landfall as one of southwest Florida’s most intense hurricanes on record, expected to produce catastrophic storm surge, destructive winds and flooding rainfall.”

Maximum sustained winds are blowing around 155 mph, said Weather.com, and over six feet of storm surge inundation has been measured, more than any other storm in that spot in at least 50 years.

“Hurricane Ian is absolutely pummeling the southwest coast of Florida,” a Weather Channel reporter said. ■

The Weather Channel said it is licensing Amobee’s advertising platform to plan data-driven linear ad campaigns.

The campaigns will be optimized using advanced audiences activated through OpenAP.

"Savvy marketers increasingly need to reach precise audiences, and having the right data, technology and interoperable partnerships is essential. We are proud to partner with Amobee and expand our existing relationship with OpenAP to make audience-based campaigns easier for advertisers to plan, execute and measure," said Barbara Bekkedahl, president, ad sales and client partnerships, Weather Group at The Weather Channel.

The Weather Channel's clients will be able to create engaging and compelling ad experiences while minimizing ad waste and duplication. Through the Amobee platform they will be able to uncover new and data-informed opportunities in real-time to reach the audiences they care most about.

"We are thrilled to partner with The Weather Channel as it looks to provide its advertisers with the tools it needs to optimize campaigns while providing granular insight into target audiences, which will ultimately advance campaign storytelling," said Stacy Daft, GM, enterprise commercial business development at Amobee, which agreed to be acquired by Tremor International for $239 million earlier last month.

"By expanding our partnership, The Weather Channel will leverage the interoperability of platforms to enable consistent audience definitions to be used for linear optimization planning, targeting and measurement," added Chris LoRusso, chief business officer at OpenAP. "Advertisers can leverage first- or third-party data to build optimized media plans to drive incremental reach and take a more holistic approach to data activation." ■

Byron Allen, founder and CEO of Allen Media Group, offered the keynote during the Next TV Summit at the Sofitel in Beverly Hills. Interviewed by Tim Hanlon, founder and CEO of The Vertere Group, Allen spoke about his start in television as a teen, his shift to industry titan, and how he sees the TV landscape today.

The interview was part of Broadcasting + Cable/Multichannel News/NextTV's LA TV Week.

Allen spoke of moving to Los Angeles as a child, his mother talking her way into work at NBC, and getting his start in comedy. Performances as a teen at the Comedy Store led to working on the writing team of Jimmie Walker, star of Good Times, with the likes of David Letterman and Jay Leno.

“I learned how to write jokes and create funny,” he said.

A co-host role on Real People, still in his teen years, followed. “It gave birth to everything you see and know about reality television,” said an ebullient Allen of the NBC unscripted show.

Allen shared how he grew to see the industry as “business show” more than show business in his shift from talent to ownership. “If you learn the business you can do as many shows as you want,” he said.

Still, selling syndicated shows to stations in the early days was a grind. “There were days I didn’t eat,” he said. “There were days they turned off my phone.”

Slowly, stations and advertisers got on board. “Dialing and smiling, smiling and dialing,” is how Allen recalled it.

Allen’s portfolio includes Entertainment Studios, The Weather Channel, TV stations and regional sports networks. He spoke of gobbling up URLs with a .tv suffix years back, including comedy.tv, cars.tv and pets.tv, and still sees the digital landscape as "a huge opportunity."

Allen singled out Local Now, essentially a throw-in in the Weather Channel acquisition, as “one of the greatest gifts ever from the digital gods.” He mentioned investing $100 million of his own capital “to reposition the asset” and make it AVOD, not SVOD.

“It is growing beyond my wildest imagination,” said Allen.

With several decades of television experience under his belt, Allen said the business continues to offer “an enormous untapped space,” with lots of revenue potential for savvy operators. ■

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group named Tony Leadman executive director of international distribution for The Weather Channel.

Leadman is the former head of international distribution for Bell Media and president of MGM Productions.

“Tony Leadman is highly accomplished and respected in the international broadcast industry,” said Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of AMG. “With his extensive experience in media, sales and marketing, we are confident Tony will help us achieve our international programming initiatives and goals.”

Also: The Weather Channel Launches New CTV App for $2.99 a Month

At Weather Channel, Leadman will distribute original programming including the series Frozen Gold, Uncharted Adventure and The Earth Unlocked to broadcast and other platforms around the world.

“The Weather Group ownership and management consists of hugely talented and committed people,” Leadman said. “I am absolutely thrilled to be part of this team and to spearhead our international plans. We intend to form partnerships and supply agreements with the world’s major broadcasters and producers. It’s exciting to be joining a progressive team as The Weather Channel continues to innovate and adapt their primetime programming.”

Allen has been adding experienced executives to his growing media empire. Last month Allen hired Matthew Lipson as executive VP of marketing for digital platforms and content. ■

It looks like a sunny day for cord cutters.

The Weather Channel, owned by Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, said it is rolling out an upgraded connected TV app that includes a live stream of The Weather Channel television network that people without pay-TV subscriptions can subscribe to for $2.99 a month.

Weather Channel, launched 40 years ago, said this is the first time it has offered its own direct-to-consumer subscription, a move that will make its forecasts, reports on weather emergencies and other programming available to an audience beyond the shrinking pool of cable and satellite subscribers.

The move follows last year's launch of Fox Weather, a free-ad supported streaming service. 

“This is a huge step for The Weather Channel television network, as we expand access to our best-in-class weather news and entertainment content,” said Allen, founder and CEO of Allen Media Group. “Our upgraded app allows subscribers to tailor their TV viewing experience to their location and needs.  As many regions in the country prepare for the start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, it was very important to launch this new app experience to ensure that our life-saving weather information is available to everyone, 24/7.”

Also: Busy Byron Allen Wants To Be Big, but Doesn’t Want To Be a Unicorn

Making a whole linear cable channel available over-the-top is a rarity. Most cable carriage deals call for channels to be available exclusively via pay-TV.

“It is unusual for a cable network to offer the full linear feed to non-pay-tv subscribers,” said Scott Robson, senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence’s Kagan. “Most services require the user to sign in to their TV provider to view the live channel feed.”

One of the reasons why few people signed up for CNN Plus before new management pulled the plug on the short-lived subscription service is that a subscription to CNN Plus did not include access to the linear CNN feed.

Cable operators pay for that exclusivity to retain subscribers.

Kagan estimates that for 2022, cable operators pay 19 cents per subscriber for The Weather Channel, generating $142.3 million in revenue for The Weather Channel. 

Asked how it’s offering the same fee to its pay-TV and OTT viewers through its new app, The Weather Channel told Broadcasting+Cable that the new app offers authenticated TV Everywhere access to The Weather Channel for the customers of its existing distribution partners, with technology built into the app that enhances their experience. In addition, the app expands authenticated access to customers who don’t subscribe through other means. 

The enhancements include interactive features such as local forecasts, 24/7 weather alerts and real-time maps and radar. The app also provides users access to an on-demand library of original programming.

Also: Weather Channel To Provide Content, Technology for CBS News

In the past Allen has sued cable giants Comcast and Charter Communications for discrimination against his Black-owned companies when they didn’t carry his television networks. His relations with cable operators seems better now.

Allen’s suit against Comcast wound up in the U.S. Supreme Court before being settled in 2020. Allen’s Entertainment Studios reached a deal that extended Comcast’s carriage agreement covering The Weather Channel and 14 broadcast stations owned by Allen.

Allen’s suit against Charter was resolved and withdrawn in 2021. Charter renewed its carriage of The Weather Channel and added Allen's Pets.TV, Cars.TV, Recipe.TV and Justice Central.

Allen acquired The Weather Channel for $300 million in 2018. In an interview, Allen said he sees Allen Media Group as a digital-first company and called weather news “live-saving information” that everyone should have. This month, he launched Weather Channel en Español, an ad supported 24/7 streaming service.

The new Weather Channel CTV app is available on Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. The company said it will be available soon on Roku, Samsung Smart TVs, Vizio and Comcast’s Xfinity Flex.

Ads on the version of The Weather Channel seen on the app will be different from those seen on cable. The Weather Channel will be using dynamic ad insertion technology on CTV, making commercials addressable. 

Last year, Allen Media Group announced plans to launch The Weather Channel Plus, a $4.99 a month streaming subscription service that would offer more than 50 news and entertainment streaming channels. Allen said the service would launch in the fourth quarter and The Weather Channel declined to say whether it was still in the pipeline.

Allen Media Group also offers free streaming services including Local Now and theGrio. ■

Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group marked the 40th anniversary of The Weather Channel by launching The Weather Channel en Español, an ad supported 24/7 streaming service.

The Spanish-language channel, which has been in the works for some time, is being backed by blue-chip sponsors including Ford, GEICO, General Motors, Toyota and Walmart.

At launch, it will be available via Allen's Local Now, Sports.tv and theGrio platforms and on The Weather Channel app.

“The Hispanic marketplace is indexing extremely well with streaming services and is severely underserved. Our launch of The Weather Channel en Español is historic, and is a recognition of the continued and significant growth of the U.S. Hispanic population and the constant need to keep the entire public informed and safe as multi-billion dollar weather disasters are on the rise – especially in communities where Spanish is spoken as both the primary and secondary language in millions of households throughout America,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of The Weather Channel parent company, Allen Media Group.

“I am proud to say viewers of The Weather Channel en Español will be able to increase their safety and awareness of extreme weather events with the full support of the number one weather news network, and its vast resources, infrastructure, technology, and scientists," said Allen, who bought the Weather Channel for $300 million in 2018.

Also: Busy Byron Allen Wants To Be Big, but Doesn’t Want To Be a Unicorn

For Allen, the move marks a continued expansion for Allen Media Group, which launched Sports.TV, acquired HBCUGo.TV and remains in the market to add more TV stations to its broadcast group. Last year Weather Channel got additional competition when Fox launched its streaming Fox Weather Channel in October.

The Weather Channel en Español will feature local forecasts, backstories on weather conditions and commentary on climate change. It will focus on the U.S., the Caribbean and Latin America. It will collaborate with The Weather Channel and other Allen Media Group assets including Pattrn, the Weather Channel's climate, environment and sustainability network.

Veteran meteorologist Albert Martinez, previously with Univision, leads a team of on-air weather people that includes Henry Golac, Milmar Ramirez, Jessica Fernandez, Abel Hernandez and Lorena Lim.

“The Weather Channel en Español represents the continued commitment of The Weather Channel to keep the entire public informed and safe when severe weather is about to strike,” said Nora Zimmett, president, news and original series for Weather Group. “In addition to vital weather and climate information, The Weather Channel en Español also provides cutting edge technology, comprehensive storytelling, plus compelling and engaging original programming.” ■

The Weather Channel said it reached an agreement to provide content and technology to CBS News’ newscasts including CBS Mornings and CBS Evening News.

The Weather Channel content will also appear on the CBS News Streaming Network.

“This year, the Weather Channel celebrates its 40th anniversary, and there’s never been a more important time to provide viewers cutting-edge visual presentations and compelling storytelling about our weather,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of the Weather Channel’s parent company, Allen Media Group. “This new collaboration is designed to offer the CBS News audience the most innovative weather reporting, as well as greater reach for the Weather Channel’s brand. CBS News and the Weather Channel will work closely together to explore and investigate issues related to climate and our environment.”

Allen acquired the Weather Group in 2018 for $300 million from a group including The Blackstone Group, Bain Capital and NBCUniversal. When NBC owned a piece of The Weather Channel, NBC personalities including Al Roker had shows there. Roker's show was cancelled in 2015.

Under the new CBS deal, Weather Channel technology, including Immersive Mixed Reality will be used to provide virtual forecasts and show how weather events will affect particular cities and communities.

Weather Channel will also provide live shots featuring Weather Channel personnel including Stephanie Abrams, Jim Cantore and Mike Bettes, from hurricanes, tornadoes and floods.

The CBS News investigative team and the Weather Channel’s meteorological and newsgathering teams will also work together on special investigative climate reports.

“By bringing together CBS News and the Weather Channel’s weather teams and virtual view technology, we will not only be able to forecast the weather but show viewers what it’s really going to look like,” said Neeraj Khemlani, president and co-head of CBS News and Stations. “This is a holistic partnership that brings together the scale of both companies’ reporting teams, technologies and audiences. In addition to the virtual forecasts and live reporting, we will also collaborate on field reporting and pair our investigative teams to expand our environmental investigative efforts. Together we will deliver deeper coverage of one of the most important stories of our time – the impact of the climate on the communities we live in.” ■

Byron Allen’s media companies have sued Nielsen, seeking billions of dollars in damages for what they called the measurement company“s “fraudulent misrepresentation” and “fraud by concealment.”

Allen, whose Allen Media Group properties include 27 broadcast stations, cable networks including The Weather Channel and numerous online and streaming video outlets, claims that Nielsen’s panel system for estimating viewership is unreliable for some of its networks. 

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Circuit Court in Cook County, Illinois, further alleges that Nielsen concealed these facts and thereby caused AMG units Entertainment Studios and The Weather Group to pay millions in fees. The lawsuit identifies several other networks that similarly received fundamentally unreliable services from Nielsen. 

Also: Busy Byron Allen Wants To Be Big, but Doesn’t Want To Be a Unicorn

Allen claims Nielsen’s actions resulted in damages including millions of dollars paid to Nielsen for “shoddy and unreliable” services, million of dollars in lost ad revenue and profits, and lost business value and other “consequential harms estimated to be in the billions of dollars.” 

The suit says Allen is seeking compensatory, special and consequential damages to be determined at trial. 

Also: Networks Ask Nielsen to Halt Release of 'Big Data' Numbers Until After Upfronts

Nielsen declined to comment on the suit.

“The industry has suffered billions of dollars in losses, and we can no longer afford these damages. Nielsen needs to quickly address these issues,” Allen said. “If not, I highly expect that Nielsen will soon face a $10 billion-plus class-action lawsuit.” 

Nielsen has been under heavy criticism from its network clients lately. It is also reportedly in talks to be acquired by private equity groups for $15 billion.

Allen has been more than willing to take on big opponents in court. Last year he filed a $10 billion suit against McDonald’s Corp., claiming the burger chain discriminates against minority-owned media companies.  The suit was dismissed, then reinstated by a federal court judge in January.  

Allen also sued Charter Communications for $10 billion in a discrimination lawsuit when the cable company wouldn’t carry his cable channels. The suit was “resolved and withdrawn” in February and the networks are currently being carried by Charter.

In June of 2020, Allen resolved a suit against Comcast that reached the U.S. Supreme Court. Comcast wound up carrying The Weather Channel, other Entertainment Studios Channels, including Comedy.TV and JusticeCentral.tv, and 14 broadcast television stations owned by Allen. 

 Allen previously sued Nielsen in 2020, claiming Nielsen’s “predatory pricing” resulted in the Weather Channel being overcharged by $425,000 per month. That suit is still pending.

In the new Nielsen lawsuit, Allen’s companies said they first engaged with Nielsen in 2007 to measure syndicated programming created by Allen’s Entertainment Studios unit.

Entertainment Studios launched several cable networks in 2009, and Nielsen aggressively sought to have those measured by Nielsen as well. According to the suit, Nielsen officials in 2016 told Allen and his colleagues that the Entertainment Studio networks “had attained sufficient distribution and viewership for Nielsen to reliably rate them.”

But, the suit alleges: “Nielsen did not tell Entertainment Studios the truth — that, in reality, its ratings services were not reliable for networks like those owned by Entertainment Studios. At the time, Entertainment Studios did not have access to information that would show that Nielsen’s data was unfounded and false.”

The suit said Nielsen, in internal reviews, knew that “when distribution for a network is limited in the number of subscribers, the sample errors in Nielsen’s reports increase dramatically making the service fundamentally unreliable.”  

Numbers for Allen’s The Weather Channel were also unreliable, according to the suit. “By 2021, the sample error was over 50% for most of the timeslots reported by Nielsen for The Weather Channel. In other words, more often than not, Nielsen could not report data for the Weather Channel that had a minimum degree of reliability,” the suit said.

Allen said Nielsen’s issues led to its “dramatically underreporting” viewership of The Weather Channel. 

In the lawsuit, Allen refers to criticism that Nielsen’s numbers have received by others in the industry. 

It noted that the VAB, which represents networks and distributors, accused Nielsen of underreporting viewing during the pandemic because of problems Nielsen had maintaining the quality of its panel. The Media Rating Council confirmed that Nielsen’s viewer numbers were low.

The MRC subsequently removed its accreditation for Neilsen’s national measurement system.

More recently Nielsen has admitted that it had not included all out-of home viewing in its ratings numbers.

Nielsen has been working on Nielsen One, a new system that will add big data to its panel of about 40,000 households as the basis for its audience estimates. 

The new system was made necessary as the media landscape has become more complicated, as Allen Media Group noted in its lawsuit.

“Nielsen’s panel system may have worked decades ago when there were a handful of networks that could be viewed only over the air on a television set,“ the suit said. ”With changes in the television industry, viewers now have hundreds of channels to choose from. They can watch video by subscribing with distributors, such as satellite or cable providers, or stream over the Internet through services and apps that can be viewed on Smart TVs, computers, cellphones and tablets. This fragmentation of viewership has eroded the reliability of Nielsen’s panel system. Nielsen has known about the problems for years but has not invested to make its ratings system reliable and up to date. “ ■

Media mogul Byron Allen said he’s excited about the NAB Show’s return to Las Vegas, about broadcasting and digital media and about the 40th anniversary of Allen Media Group-owned The Weather Channel. 

Allen’s company owns 27 TV stations along with pay TV channels including The Weather Channel, which is launching a Spanish-language outlet as a free streaming channel later this year. Climate change awareness makes the service important, he said. “The Weather Channel is leading the charge and leading the conversation in ‘let’s work together and let’s combat climate change and global warming,’ ” he said in a recent interview. 

Allen, an NAB Television Board member, will be appearing at a fireside chat with outgoing NAB president and CEO Gordon H. Smith on April 27. He’s also on an April 26 panel about new technology enhancing storytelling on The Weather Channel. And he is receiving a leadership award at a breakfast event at the show. “It’s great. I mean, I love it. I’m looking forward to it.”

Also: NAB Show Preview: Live Event Rolls Back Into Las Vegas

Allen was reportedly interested in buying Tegna, which recently agreed to be sold to private equity-backed Standard General for $8.6 billion including $3.2 billion in assumed debt. Allen said he could not comment on Tegna but that he remains interested in buying TV stations, especially affiliates of Big Four networks. “We’re on the hunt, big time,” he said. 

AMG has been launching free ad-supported streaming services, including Sports.TV, TheGrio.TV and HBCUGo.TV, along with Local Now and The Weather Channel en Español, launching in the second or third quarter. Broadcasting and cable outlets including his Entertainment Studios Networks still interest AMG’s founder, chairman and CEO, though.  

Also: NAB Show 2022: Graham Media Group CEO Emily Barr Sets Convention Expectations

“And also, I have to tell you, the industry is appreciating Black-owned media,” Allen said. “I would say 95% of them want to lean in. There’s that 5% that tries to minimize, which is why I sued McDonald’s for $10 billion.” That suit, claiming McDonald’s has discriminated against Black-owned media companies (including The Weather Channel and ES Networks) in ad buying, is working its way through federal courts.

“Listen,” Allen said. “I think that this industry has a huge opportunity to be the leader, make an example and show the rest of corporate America how to do it and how to help us all be better and achieve something that really is long overdue. It’s something we need to put behind us and do the right way and make us all better and really lean in to make sure every American is successful, and I do mean every American, young, old, Black, white, Hispanic, Asian, everybody.” ■

Allen Media Group promoted Nora Zimmett to president of news and original series for the Weather Group.

Zimmett had been chief content officer and executive VP at the Weather Channel, where she oversaw live and original programming. 

Also: Weather Channel Launching Two Original Primetime Series

She will continue to oversee programming for The Weather Channel television network and Weather Channel en Espanol, launching this spring, as the company expands into new services and platforms.

"Nora Zimmett's elevation to president of news and original series for Weather Group is well-deserved and she is the perfect person to help lead our team as we continue to grow The Weather Channel's media and technology brand worldwide," said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. "Accurate and trusted weather and climate-related content is an essential service and is needed to protect and save lives. Nora is an excellent executive who lives up to this enormous responsibility."

Before joining The Weather Channel seven years ago, Zimmett worked at CNN, Bloomberg TV, HDNet and Fox News Channel.

“I am honored to be leading this organization's news and original series divisions across our growing platforms,” said Zimmett. “In a climate where there is a lot of distrust in media, Byron Allen's vision to build upon the success of The Weather Channel's honest reporting and truthful storytelling is a testament to his commitment to science and journalism.”  ■

A federal court judge in California has reversed a ruling dismissing media mogul Byron Allen’s $10 billion lawsuit charging that McDonald’s discriminated against Black-owned media in buying advertising.

In a new order entered Friday (January 21), Judge Fernando Olguin denied McDonald’s motion to dismiss without prejudice and said McDonald’s has to answer Allen’s complaint by January 27.

The judge said the ruling dismissing the case relied on materials that shouldn’t have been considered by the court.

Also: Busy Byron Allen Wants To Be Big, but Doesn’t Want To Be a Unicorn

According to the lawsuit, originally filed in May, McDonald’s intentionally discriminated against Allen’s Entertainment Studios and Weather Group through a pattern of racial stereotyping and refusals to contract.

“We look forward to presenting our enormous evidence in court, which will prove the systemic racism at McDonald’s,” Allen said. “And I firmly believe the board at McDonald’s should fire CEO Chris Kempczinski immediately.

Allen’s lawsuit says that McDonald’s buys most of its advertising as part of a general market group and has a separate tier for Black businesses with a smaller budget and less favorable pricing.

About the time the lawsuit was filed, McDonald’s announced that it planned to increase the ad dollars it spends with diverse-owned media companies from 4% currently to 10% by 2024. Spending with Black-owned properties will increase from 2% to 5%. ■

Byron Allen is moving fast in a lot of different directions at once. The entertainer —
famously the youngest standup comedian to do a set on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show — is determined to build the world’s biggest media company. He’s buying old-fashioned local TV stations and starting up streaming services. At the same time, he wants to fix the country and save the world.

He’s also sued giant companies he wants to work with. His cable channels are carried by Comcast and Charter Communications following litigation against them. His discrimination complaint seeking more advertising dollars for minority-owned companies like Allen Media Group was dismissed earlier this month, but Allen’s lawyers say they plan to amend and pursue the complaint.

Allen told B+C/Multichannel News the lawsuits have rubbed some people the wrong way, but he sees no obstacles or contradictions in his ambition and activity.

“Please understand, we are a digital-first company,” Allen said. “Everything we do is about digital. The reason why I’ve said we’re going to be the world’s biggest media company is because no one’s in a better position to be digital-first than us.”

Early Digital Adopter

Allen said he was early to jump on the digital bandwagon, buying up domains like Comedy.tv, Cars.tv and Pets.tv when others were caught up in the dot-com rush. He’s also pledged to spend $10 billion on TV stations — which are about as traditional as traditional media gets. 

Just as movies and radio weren’t replaced by television, Allen doesn’t see streaming replacing television. “It all turned out to be additive and the landscape became much richer,” he said. “And the landscape became much stronger because there is no one platform. It is additive and the platforms, in some ways, have started to work together in symphony.” 

Even with streaming services spending $50 billion on content, stations generate big audiences for their programming, especially football and other sports. “Big Four network affiliates are always going to be needed,” Allen said. “I think there’s an opportunity to be very much of a part of this dynamic landscape.”

Also: Byron Allen: We Must Have Economic Inclusion for Black-Owned Media

TV stations deliver local news, and to Allen the importance of local news was driven home during the pandemic. “It was not uncommon for our TV stations to achieve 50% to 90% shares,” he said. “Local news is one of the most important things in our society. Food, water, clean air and local news. You need it to survive. You need to know what’s going on in your community before you walk out your front door.”

For the stations Allen buys, the goal is to be No. 1 in news. “It should go without saying, we’re going to invest whatever we have to invest to make sure that our local TV stations are No. 1 in news.”

He said his stations now cover just under 5% of the U.S. “It is, I believe, the largest privately held station group, in terms of footprint, that is not publicly traded or multigenerationally owned — and that’s been accomplished in about two years.”

He is not finished buying stations. Allen has reportedly made a $10 billion bid for Tegna, which owns 64 TV stations. He said he couldn’t comment on Tegna because of a confidentiality agreement. 

“We are very acquisitive and we are looking to buy Big Four network affiliates wherever we can achieve that goal,” he said. 

While sports is a foundation of his broadcast stations, Allen also is creating a free streaming service devoted to sports called Sports.TV. The app was recently made available at the Apple app store.

“Sports.tv is something we’re very passionate about,” Allen said. “What we did there is we took the world’s two favorite words, sports and free, and we put them together. It’s a virtual MVPD and you can stream networks that are sports-centric
for free. The networks include Football Encore, Pac-12 Network and the
SportsGrid, some of them already on another Allen streaming service, Local Now. Also on Sports.TV are some of Allen’s stations that broadcast sports news.  

“We’re on track to have over 100 networks here in less than 60 days,” he said. “We’ll add regional sports networks, we will add pay-per-view. We will add gaming.”

Allen’s first big splash as a media owner came when he bought The Weather Channel for $300 million in 2018. He recalled that at the very end of the presentation he was given as the network’s new owner, he was told about Local Now.

“They said to me, ‘You own the equivalent of a fully distributed broadcast network that uses artificial intelligence and proprietary software to aggregate and curate local news, weather, sports and traffic and send it to the end user, geofenced to their ZIP code.’ And I went, ‘Wow, that is absolutely amazing.’ They said, ‘Don’t get excited, because it’s losing over $25 million a year and you’re probably going to shut it down.’ ”

Allen said he wasn’t “clever enough” to have come up with Local Now and he wasn’t “dumb enough” to shut it down. 

Reinventing ‘Local Now’

“I’ve invested over $100 million of my own capital to reposition Local Now,” he said. He changed it from a subscription service that charged $4.99 a month to a free service supported by advertising. Local Now now offers more than 10,500 movies and TV shows on demand and 400 channels. Since February it has gone from about 2 million active users to more than 12 million in September, Allen said. “You’re going to start to see promotion kick in and I think you’re going to see that get substantially much much stronger,” he said.

Allen said that Local Now did very well in the upfront. “Advertisers were very keen on being part of our digital platforms.” 

Among the newer digital properties are the recently acquired HBCUGo.tv and TheGrio, which has evolved into an African-American version of Local Now, where users go to get hyperlocal news and information. TheGrio actually lives on three platforms — streaming, online and over-the-air. Allen acquired This TV and Light from MGM and turned Light, a  faith-based network, into TheGrio.

Other digital initiatives in the pipeline include Weather Channel Plus, a $4.99-a-month virtual MVPD with lifestyle programming and content for the whole family, and Weather Channel en Español, a free streaming Spanish-language news service now scheduled to launch in the second quarter of 2022.

“Weather news is life-saving information,” Allen said. “You don’t want someone to not have it, and not have the best of it in real time because of a language barrier.” 

Fox News recently launched a streaming weather service, but Allen said he’s not afraid of the competition.

 “I think there’s more than enough audience to support 24-hour weather news, because the biggest threat to human beings on planet Earth are climate change and global warming,” Allen said.

The Weather Channel also started up Pattrn, a streaming platform dedicated to climate. “Unbeknownst to me, the management team at The Weather Channel did studies, and our viewers said we want more information about this and we wanted doing specials about climate change and global warming,” Allen said.

For some people, denying climate change is a business decision, but not Allen. “Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King’s widow, said to me, ‘Byron, the truth is our greatest weapon. So always go with the truth, whether it’s business, or life, or friendship or family.’ ”

Besides, with every extreme weather event, the case for climate change is becoming more evident. “I don’t think you have to have that conversation when you're looking out the window and your car is floating down the middle of Manhattan,” Allen said. “I don’t think you have to debate it. I think people are living it. 

“People are starting to connect the dots and understand that because of climate change and global warming, extreme weather events are triggering food shortages, water shortages and genocide as people try to cross borders to survive. It’s very real.”

While saving the world, Allen is also trying to unite a divided country. Buying The Weather Channel was a first step.

“For us, as a country and as an industry, it was a Jackie Robinson moment for me to buy the Weather Channel, because I happen to be the first African-American to own and operate a mainstream news outlet,” he said. “As a country, we should be proud of that and we sent a message to a lot of people who look like me that I don’t have to just do something in my neighborhood, or do something that’s just solely African-American. I can do something that’s global.”

More Representation Needed

But some things still haven’t changed.

“I am the only African-American that owns a Big Four network affiliate and controls and operates Big Four network affiliates in America,” Allen said. “They’re not under a [joint sales agreement] or [local marketing agreement]. I operate them and they’re under my name.

“That’s a very bad statement, that America has a Black unicorn,” he said. “ It is something that as a country, we need to do much better.

Also: Byron Allen Wants To Save the World

“If you don't own the media, you don't have a seat at that table and you don't control how you’re produced and depicted and seen around the world,” he said. “Then our voices and our opinions are not heard and widely distributed. And guess what? We’re not a part of this so-called democracy.”

While he’s building his empire, he’s hoping to help other businesses through his Black Owned Media Matters movement, aimed at getting Madison Avenue to spend more on Black-owned media. He’s also looking to inspire a new generation, so he won’t be the only Black-owned TV station owner in the future.

“I want to inspire folks to go to the next level,” Allen said. “I want you to break my records. I want you to make me look like an amateur because that's making America better.” ■

Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Television said it renewed four if its syndicated weekly series from The Weather Channel for the fall of 2022 and fall 2023.

The series--Storm of Suspicion, Weather Gone Viral, SOS: How to Survive and Top 10 are currently in production at The Weather Channel and distributed to local broadcasters by Entertainment Studios Television.

The shows are cleared in 99% of the country and appear on stations owned by station groups including Fox , E.W. Scripps, Nexstar Media, Gray Television, CBS, Hearst Television, Cox Media Group, Sunbeam Television, Hubbard Broadcasting, Tegna, Graham Media, Weigel Broadcasting, Morgan Murphy Media, Mission Broadcasting, Lockwood Broadcasting, Block Communications, Waypoint Media, Sarkes Tarzian Inc., Manship Media, Vision Alaska, McKinnon Broadcasting, Morris Multimedia and Allen Media Broadcasting.

“Weather is the number one news driver for local television stations,” said Byron Allen, founder/chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios. “Storm of Suspicion, Weather Gone Viral, SOS: How to Survive and Top 10 are four outstanding series from one of the most trusted and respected brands in all of television, The Weather Channel. These shows are exceptionally compelling and appeal to all demographics. Our station partners realize the enormous value these series offer to complement their local weather coverage.”

Storm of Suspicion is about situations in which weather played a role in solving or covering up a crime.

Weather Gone Viral features video of dangerous and extreme weather events shared online.

SOS: How To Survive tells the tales of people who are lost, trapped or mission, with lessons on how to avoid mistakes that lead to deadly situations.

Top 10 is about heroes, record setters, extreme adventurers and the world’s weather. ■

Byron Allen’s $10 billion lawsuit charging that McDonald’s discriminated against his Black-owned media company by not buying ads from it was dismissed by a federal judge Tuesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Fernando Olguin said Allen’s companies did not offer enough evidence to show that the fast-food chain “intentionally and purposefully discriminated against them.”

Allen’s lawyers said they would be back with more evidence.

“At the invitation of Judge Olguin, we will amend the complaint to add greater detail,” said Skip Miller, partner at the Los Angeles law firm Miller Barondess. “And when we do so, we firmly believe that the case will go forward.“

Allen’s Allen Media Group owns The Weather Channel, the Entertainment Studios cable channels and a group of TV stations.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Allen claimed that McDonald’s refused to advertise on his cable networks. Of the $1.6 billion McDonald’s spends on TV advertising, less than $5 million goes to Black-owned media, the suit said.

After the suit was filed in May, McDonald’s said it plans in increase the ad dollars it spends with diverse-owned media companies from 4% to 10% by 2024. Spending with Black-owned properties will increase from 2% to 5%.

Last month, Allen called on McDonald's to fire CEO Chris Kempczinski. Allen accused Kempczinski of fostering a racist culture at the burger chain following an incident in which Kempczinski sent a text message to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot about the shooting deaths of two children in the city. In the text message, he said the parents had “failed those kids.” ■

Included below is a snapshot of TV by the numbers for the week of Aug. 23-29, highlighting the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Vizio's Inscape, and top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks

Via Inscape, Vizio's TV data product with glass-level insights from a panel of more than 17 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

As the National Football League season gets closer, preseason games are still earning watch-time wins. For the week of Aug. 23-29, NFL programming is once again No. 1 on TV, with 2.4% of watch-time. The 2021 Little League World Series is No. 2 with 1.07%, followed by Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (0.84%), Good Morning America (0.83%) and PGA Tour golf (0.81%).

The biggest viewership surge, however, comes from weather coverage — specifically around Hurricane Ida as audiences tuned in to keep track of the storm. Weather Channel's Live Coverage: Tracking Ida debuts at No. 6 overall with 0.8% of minutes watched during the timeframe.

College football's return with a limited "week zero" slate of games saw it capture 0.52% of watch-time — No. 16 among all programs from Aug. 23-29. It's one of five live sporting events included in this week's ranking, behind the NFL (No. 1), Little League World Series (No. 2), the PGA Tour (No. 5) and Major League Baseball (No. 8).

Tucker Carlson Tonight is No. 25, closing out the weekly watch-time ranking with 0.41% of minutes watched.

After a one-week hiatus, NBC returns to the top spot for networks by watch-time for Aug. 23-29. NBC earns 6.35% of total minutes watched on TV by way of Today and the NFL, among other programming. As the preseason winds down, eyeballs on the NFL continue to increase for broadcasts like NBC's matchup between the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns, which aired on Aug. 29. 

Fox News drops one spot to No. 2 by watch-time with 6.07% on the week, followed by ABC (5.89%), CBS (5.33%) and Fox (4.33%). The latter two networks aired NFL games during the timeframe as well.

Meanwhile, The Weather Channel jumps from No. 46 to No. 14 during the week of Aug. 23-29, with 1.49% of watch-time.

Investigation Discovery is the only other network to experience a significant jump by week-over-week ranking, moving from No. 19 to No. 13, with 1.54% of minutes watched.

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Even in the preseason, NFL games are back to delivering large numbers of TV ad impressions. Over the course of 16 matchups (10 on national TV) from Aug. 23-29, the NFL delivered over 1.17 billion TV ad impressions, to take the top spot among all programming.

Good Morning America is second with 1.02 billion impressions, followed by Today (966 million), Live Coverage: Tracking Ida (880 million) and The Young and the Restless (834 million). The Weather Channel's almost round-the-clock Hurricane Ida coverage accounted for over 56% of its total TV ad impressions (for shows with new airings) from Aug. 23-29.

Along with hurricane coverage, some of the more notable week-over-week newcomers to this ranking include college football and Bachelor in Paradise. As noted above, the former began its "week zero" schedule with a handful of games en route to 519 million impressions (No. 16), while the latter is No. 13 with 567 million. Though Bachelor in Paradise has been on for years as a spin-off to the Bachelor/Bachelorette franchises, this is the first season that won't feature long-time host Chris Harrison. So far, this season is utilizing celebrity guest hosts, including (to date) David Spade and Lance Bass.

NBC leaps back up to No. 1 in this week's ad-impressions-by-network ranking, with 5.24 billion from Aug. 23-29. Fox News is second with 4.96 billion TV ad impressions, followed by ABC (4.72 billion), CBS (4.49 billion) and CNN (2.62 billion). The Weather Channel was one of 10 networks to top 1 billion TV ad impressions (for new, live programming) on the week, coming in at No. 9 with 1.56 billion. 

Football helped fuel an impressions boost for several networks as both NFL preseason action and early college football games served as welcome landing spots for diehard and casual viewers alike. NBC, CBS, Fox and ESPN all experienced TV ad impression increases after airing NFL and/or college football games from Aug. 23-29.

The Weather Channel, part of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group, said it plans to launch The Weather Channel Plus, a $4.99 a month streaming subscription service.

The Weather Channel Plus will offer more than 50 news and entertainment streaming channels with "aggregated high-profile content" when it launches in the fourth quarter, Allen Media said in a release. 

Allen Media Group said it projects having 30 million subscribers within five years.

“The Weather Channel has been voted the most-trusted news brand in America for eleven consecutive years, and the fifth most-trusted brand in America overall, which makes it the perfect brand for a direct-to-consumer streaming platform,” said Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group. “We’ve aggregated some of the best news and entertainment content while keeping it affordable and accessible at the same time. We are highly confident that consumers will enjoy The Weather Channel Plus streaming service for decades to come.” 

Allen Media Group already offers free streaming services Local Now and The Grio. Like other "plus" OTT extensions of existing networks, The Weather Channel Plus would presumably not include the linear feed of The Weather Channel.

It owns 12 TV stations, plus networks such as Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV, Cars.TV, ES.TV, MyDestination.TV, Justice Central.TV, This TV and Pattrn.

Allen's move to launch Weather Channel Plus comes as Fox News Media is set to launch an ad-supported weather service during later this quarter.

Last week, Fox Weather named some of the meteorologists who will be working on the new streaming service. 

Verizon has launched Allen Media Group’s Local Now streaming platform to its upgraded Fios TV customers, the two companies announced Tuesday.

Verizon Fios TV customers with the newest set top-box models can access the service, which offers customized local news, information and entertainment, said Verizon. Local Now features The Weather Channel’s advanced weather reporting technology along with content from Reuters, Associated Press, Lionsgate, Cinedigm, Pattrn, Cheddar, Bloomberg, Kevin Hart’s LOL and People.TV.

Also Read: Byron Allen Wants to Save The World

“Local Now provides Verizon Fios customers free access to a streaming service that delivers super-hyper local news and premium content,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group in a statement. “Local Now uses proprietary software and artificial intelligence in a unique way that sets a new standard for streaming local news and entertainment globally.” 

Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group CEO Byron Allen says the entertainment industry has to become economic partners with Black-owned media, and he’s willing to do what it takes to make it happen.  

Allen, who served as the keynote speaker Tuesday at the Multichannel News CultureX Conversations conference, said he’s not happy with advertisers like General Motors whom he claims do not do enough business with Black-owned media companies including his own media conglomerate, which features a suite of cable networks including The Weather Channel and 16 “Big Four” broadcast affiliated stations in 12 markets. 

Read also: Cover Story: Byron Allen Wants to Save the World 

“I’ve already declared that I’m going to sue Coca-Cola and McDonald’s because they don’t do business with Black-owned media,” he said. “What I’ve said is we’re not going to fix this by talking about it -- we’re not going to fix this by having conversations -- we’re going to fix it  through action. I’ve made it very clear … If you have an ad budget, make sure a minimum of 2% of your ad budget should go to Black-owned media, because that will create opportunities, inclusion and jobs -- even foster creativity. It’ll make a stronger business for all of us and a better industry, community and country.”

The potential legal action against advertisers is similar to lawsuits totaling $40 billion that Allen filed against Comcast and Charter in 2015 for alleged racial discrimination after they refused to carry Allen’s suite of cable channels. While those lawsuits have since been settled, Allen said there’s still work to be done. 

“I wanted to say in a very loud and clear way that we must have economic inclusion for Black-owned media,” he said. “We can’t spend as an industry $70 billion dollars licensing cable networks and none of it goes to Black-owned media. We have a great relationship now with all of the MVPD’s, but it was a conversation that needed to be had, and I’m glad we had it.”

Allen’s advocacy for economic inclusion for Black media was born from his own fight to be successful despite racial obstacles he says he experienced throughout his life, from his early childhood days growing up in Detroit in the 1960s through his move to Los Angeles with his mother in the 1970s, which served as his introduction to the entertainment business. 

While his mother worked at NBC as an intern as she attended UCLA Film School, Allen said he began to see the opportunities for himself in the entertainment industry, particularly after sitting in the shadows watching the production of such shows as The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, Sanford and Son and Chico and the Man.

Allen began performing stand-up comedy at 14 and wrote for comedians such as Jimmy Walker, but said he soon realized the economic playing field was not level for everyone.  

“I found along the way that there were challenges. There were folks who felt like I should be paid a certain amount and that I should not be paid what my white counterparts were being paid … so I decided to learn the business side of show,” he said. 

Allen also spoke of another pivotal point in his career -- his friendship with legendary TV syndicator Roger King. After struggling to get stations to pick up his syndicated shows because he was a person of color, Allen said that King used his influence to get stations to do business with him. 

“I never had a problem having anyone return my phone calls again because of that -- you couldn’t be in business if Roger King didn’t allow you to be in business with his unbelievable  shows,” he said. “But it was unfortunate that he had to kick the door open, and then even after I started selling shows I realized there were a number of other issues. There was a big problem with racism in our industry and folks not leaning in and understanding how bad it is.” 

In particular Allen said his sales representatives experienced the industry’s bigotry first hand when negotiating with potential clients who were told that because Allen was Black, they would not do business with them. Despite the blatant racism, Allen encouraged his salespeople to continue to knock on those doors, just as he did when he started selling his shows.  

“I said to them that that’s not an excuse, that’s an obstacle,” he said. “You are going to have to go back and keep selling, and figure out a way to get around it. That resistance, that racism, is a part of my success.” 

Now Allen says he wants to make sure that his message of economic inclusion reaches the industry’s top executives so that others can succeed within the industry. “This isn’t about being tolerated -- this is about being partners,” he said. “You do that from the top -- that’s what the real leaders have to do from the top. You should know the Byron Allens, and all the Byron Allens in this beautiful country of ours, and how you can engage them, support them, nurture them.”  

He added, “I should not have endured or experienced what I have experienced simply because I’m Black. We have to be vigilant to make sure that we understand that that’s not who we are, and we are better than that. We’re going to do a lot more to make sure no one ever has this experience again.” 

Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios Networks has promoted Weather Channel executive Bruce Gibson to VP of network distribution.

Gibson, a 10-year The Weather Channel distribution, marketing and affiliate relations veteran, will oversee the distribution and carriage agreement negotiations for all eight ESN television networks, streaming AVOD service Local Now, and all 16 of the Allen Media Group-controlled, broadcast network-affiliated television stations nationwide, according to the company.

“We are excited to elevate Bruce Gibson to his new position,” said Janice Arouh, president of Networks Distribution and Marketing for Allen Media Group’s Entertainment Studios Networks in a statement. “Bruce is a tireless champion of our cross-portfolio distribution efforts for The Weather Channel, Entertainment Studios Networks, Local Now, and retransmission consent for the Allen Media Broadcasting stations. Bruce is enthusiastic about executing our strategic vision while continuing to meet the needs of our affiliate partners.”

This is a quick snapshot of TV by the numbers for the month of August, revealing the most-watched shows and networks using glass-level data from Inscape, plus a look at what viewers were binge-watching. Also below: the top shows and networks by TV ad impressions with insights via iSpot.tv. You can see July’s rankings here.

Most-Watched Shows and Networks 

Via Inscape, the TV data company with insights from a panel of more than 16 million active and opted-in smart TVs. Data is linear, live TV only and includes all episode types (new and reruns). Rankings are by percent share duration (i.e., time spent watching).

Looking at programming, of all the minutes watched in August by smart TVs that Inscape measured, sports took four of the top five spots, led by NBA basketball with 2.35% of the time spent watching. NHL hockey took second place (1.02%), MLB baseball was at No. 3 (0.84%) and PGA Tour Golf took fifth place with 0.74% share duration. With sports capturing so much watched time in August, many shows that were higher in the charts in July slipped in the ranking this time.

On the network side of things, of all minutes watched in August, 6.72% of the time was spent on Fox News, making it No. 1 for the third month in a row, with a slight increase from July’s 6.09%. Two networks that previously didn’t make the top 50 list burst onto the scene in August: NBCSN at No. 21 and The Weather Channel at No. 24.

Reality Shows Ranked High for Binge-Watching

In August, the most binge-watched time-shifted shows (based on minutes binged as a percent of all binged shows that Inscape measured) were Big Brother, Yellowstone, 90 Day Fiancé: Happily Ever After?, Married at First Sight and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. 

Top Shows and Networks by TV Ad Impressions

Via iSpot.tv, the always-on TV ad measurement and attribution company. Rankings are by TV ad impressions, for new episodes only. 

Counting SportsCenter, five out of the top 10 programs were sports, with NBA basketball leading the charge with a whopping 16.8 billion impressions — over three times as many as the No. 2 program, NHL hockey. PGA Tour Golf took sixth place, while MLB baseball racked up 2.7 billion impressions, putting in at No. 8. America’s Got Talent was the top non-news/sports show with 1.8 billion impressions, putting it at No. 16, ahead of Hurricane Laura coverage (1.6 billion impressions).

Looking at networks, Fox News was on top once again with 26 billion TV ad impressions, followed by NBC (17.4 billion) and CNN (15.5 billion). Thanks to NBA games, TNT saw a 564.38% month-over-month increase in impressions, moving it up the ranking from No. 22 in July to No. 8 in August. NBC Sports came in at No. 11 with 5.4 billion impressions, a month-over-month increase of 195.66%. 

Entertainment Studios is launching three new series off of The Weather Channel into syndication next fall: Highway Thru Hell, SOS: How to Survive and Top 10. 

Highway Thru Hell will be sold as a one-hour Monday-Friday strip, while SOS: How to Survive and Top 10 are being offered as one-hour weekly series.

“In this current environment, it is more important than ever that we remain focused on delivering extraordinary content solutions for the broadcast television stations and the advertising community,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group and its subsidiary, Entertainment Studios, in a statement.

Highway Thru Hell is The Weather Channel’s highest-rated program. The series follows drivers as they cross steep mountain passes and winding switchbacks. The show stars Jamie Davis and his crew who work to keep these passes open, often having to tow semi-trucks off the road in blizzards and other challenging conditions. 

SOS: How to Survive stars survival expert Creek Stewart who shares his best survival tips while showing viewers unique locations and dangerous situations.

Each weekly episode of Top 10 reveals the top-ten of something, whether it’s world-class athletes, first-responders or survivors. 

The Weather Channel said Thursday (Aug. 20) that it has hired Fred Bucher as senior VP and chief marketing officer. 

He will be responsible for marketing, communications and research efforts for the channel and The Weather Channel's free streaming service, Local Now. These departments will work in tandem to provide the channel's coverage of the most severe weather around the country.

“Fred has a great strategic marketing mind, and his creativity and passion will be a perfect complement to our team at The Weather Channel and Local Now and help us remain ahead of the curve,” said Weather Group president, Tom O'Brien.

Bucher was most recently senior VP and CMO at Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales division of Charter Communications. He was also senior VP and CMO at Time Warner Cable Media and VP of marketing solutions at ESPN.

“I'm excited to be working with Tom and the rest of the incredibly talented team at The Weather Group,” said Bucher. “It's hard to find a more exciting and invigorating opportunity as a marketer than this one. The Weather Channel and Local Now are uniquely positioned to thrive in today’s quickly evolving media landscape, and I'm looking forward to jumping in to help grow both brands.”

Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios and Comcast on Thursday reached a content carriage agreement, ending a long, legal dispute that ended up at the Supreme Court.

According to the deal, Comcast extends its carriage agreement for The Weather Channel and 14 broadcast television stations owned by Allen, who is Entertainment Studios/Allen Media Group founder, Chairman and CEO and a 2019 B&C Hall of Fame inductee.

In addition, the deal also includes carriage of ES’ channels Comedy.Tv, Recipe.TV and JusticeCentral.TV on its X1 and video on demand platforms, according to both parties.

“We’re excited to begin a new phase of partnership with Comcast and Xfinity, including the distribution of our cable channels for the first time on Xfinity platforms,” said Allen in a statement.

Comcast Cable senior vice president of video and entertainment Bec Heap added: “We are pleased to have reached this multifaceted agreement that continues our long relationship with The Weather Channel while bringing Xfinity customers additional content. We look forward to an ongoing partnership.”

The deal effectively ends a five-year legal dispute between Allen and Comcast. Allen and the National Association of African American Owned Media sued Comcast in 2015, alleging that the media company conspired to keep African-American owned networks off its systems. A federal court dismissed the suit three times, but the decision was reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit a year ago.

Comcast appealed to the Supreme Court, which this past March ruled against the lower court ruling, saying that Allen "bears the burden" of showing that race was the "but for" cause of the alleged injury--in this case lack of carriage.

RELATED: Supreme Court Rules Against Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios in Comcast Suit 

The deal comes on the heels of Comcast's pledge to invest $100 million over the next three years to combat racism and advance social justice and equality. 

RELATED: Comcast Unveils $100M Plan to Advance Social Justice, Equity 

Allen still has active a $10 billion lawsuit against Charter filed in 2016 also claiming carriage discrimination. 

AMC Network and The Weather Channel have joined OpenAP, the advanced advertising company.

The programmers join Fox, ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal and Univision. Inventory from those members is available to advertisers looking to target audiences using the OpenAP market.

“Our agency and brand partners continue to advocate for more TV networks to join us in making advertising inventory available in the OpenAP Market, underscoring the importance of scale as we join forces to move the industry toward advanced audiences,” said David Levy, CEO of OpenAP. “The diverse portfolios of both AMC Networks and The Weather Channel – who are each investing heavily in sophisticated targeting capabilities – further cements our ability to make it easier for advertisers to buy at scale in an open marketplace. The partnership is a true testament to the power of collaboration.”

AMC Networks has been executing a strategy of making its ad inventory available in whatever way buyers and clients prefer. It is also looking to make its content available to viewers on more platforms.

“We are taking a viewer-first approach to meeting consumers where they are, which for us means creating new partnerships across all corners of the media ecosystem to deliver great viewing experiences,” said Kim Kelleher, president of commercial revenue and partnerships for AMC Networks. “A critical ingredient to our success is helping advertisers increase their reach and allowing them to choose how they want to transact. OpenAP has made great progress delivering on its promise of bringing publishers together and galvanizing advertisers around new buying mechanisms, so it makes perfect sense for AMC Networks to join at this time.”

“The trust between The Weather Channel and our audience transfers to our advertisers, and now our partners can align their campaigns with enhanced data and automation,” said Barbara Bekkedahl, president of advertising sales for The Weather Channel. “We are pleased to join OpenAP and the premium linear networks offered on this platform.”

AMC Networks and The Weather Channel have joined OpenAP, the advanced advertising company.

The programmers join Fox, ViacomCBS, NBCUniversal and Univision. Inventory from those members is available to advertisers looking to target audiences using the OpenAP market.

“Our agency and brand partners continue to advocate for more TV networks to join us in making advertising inventory available in the OpenAP Market, underscoring the importance of scale as we join forces to move the industry toward advanced audiences,” said David Levy, CEO of OpenAP. “The diverse portfolios of both AMC Networks and The Weather Channel – who are each investing heavily in sophisticated targeting capabilities – further cements our ability to make it easier for advertisers to buy at scale in an open marketplace. The partnership is a true testament to the power of collaboration.”  

AMC Networks has been executing a strategy of making its ad inventory available in whatever way buyers and clients prefer. It is also looking to make its content available to viewers on more platforms.

“We are taking a viewer-first approach to meeting consumers where they are, which for us means creating new partnerships across all corners of the media ecosystem to deliver great viewing experiences,” said Kim Kelleher, president of commercial revenue and partnerships for AMC Networks. “A critical ingredient to our success is helping advertisers increase their reach and allowing them to choose how they want to transact. OpenAP has made great progress delivering on its promise of bringing publishers together and galvanizing advertisers around new buying mechanisms, so it makes perfect sense for AMC Networks to join at this time.”

“The trust between The Weather Channel and our audience transfers to our advertisers, and now our partners can align their campaigns with enhanced data and automation,” said Barbara Bekkedahl, president of advertising sales for The Weather Channel. “We are pleased to join OpenAP and the premium linear networks offered on this platform.”

Legacy linear brands bring a sense of credibility and gravitas that will help drive viewers and subscribers to new streaming offerings, a panel of TV executives said at the Future-produced Virtual Next TV Summit event on April 27.

“Fundamentally, the value of a legacy brand or a well-known brand is simply trust,” PBS chief operating officer Jonathan Barzilay said during a panel session moderated by Broadcasting+Cable contributing editor Paige Albiniak. Barzilay added that when the broadcaster started making short-form content for the web, it collectively did so via the PBS Digital Studio name. “By putting the PBS name on all of these independently produced short form series, that conveys something to the audience. ... The trust that people have in the PBS brand and the awareness that people have in the PBS brand, maybe gave us a little head start.”

At The Weather Group, parent of The Weather Channel network, president Tom O’Brien said its streaming offering Local Now benefits from the more-established Weather Channel brand.

“The ability, the opportunity, is what you do with that brand. If you use it as an anchor, you use it as a basis of innovation,” O’Brien said.

At BritBox, a joint venture between British television icons the BBC and ITV, the focus has been trying to balance those two brands to establish a new digital identity in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

“It’s an interesting balance because we want to build our own brand equity, but do so leveraging that of our parents,” BritBox senior VP and commercial head Emily Powers said.

Ampersand senior VP, agency strategy Marion Hargett said legacy brands matter when launching OTT services because it gives potential viewers and customers a base on which to set their expectations. 

Fox News, fresh off its August monthly primetime and total day ratings triumph, continued its winning ways on a total day basis last week, while ESPN tackled the primetime ratings crown.

Fox News was tops on a total day basis during the week of Sept. 2 to Sept. 8 for 35th consecutive week, topping ESPN, MSNBC, The Weather Channel, HGTV and Investigation Discovery, said Nielsen.

ESPN, on the strength of its football and US Open tennis tournament coverage, averaged 2.5 million viewers to top Fox News’ 2.2 million viewers to take weekly primetime ratings honors, according to Nielsen. MSNBC finished third with 1.4 million, followed by HGTV’s 1.2 million viewers and TLC And USA Network, tied for fifth with 1 million viewers.

Investigation Discovery (920,000), Hallmark Channel (910,000), CNN (869,000), and Discovery Channel (863,000) rounded out the top 10 most watched cable networks in primetime, said Nielsen.

The Weather Channel will be available to Verizon Fios TV customers starting Monday as part of a multi-year carriage deal between the parties, the network announced Wednesday.

The Weather Channel, which was purchased by Byron Allen's Entertainment Studios in 2018, will return to Verizon Fios Lineups June 24 after being dropped by the distributor in 2015. The network will join the Verizon Fios TV app later this fall, according to network officials. 

RELATED: The Weather Channel Comes Off Verizon Fios

“We are happy to bring Fios TV customers another trusted resource for weather information with the addition of The Weather Channel to our Fios lineup,” said Erin McPherson, Verizon’s Head of Content Strategy, Acquisitions and Programming in a statement. “Our customers are increasingly impacted by severe weather, and The Weather Channel will be a welcomed addition for our viewers."

Added Allen, founder and chairman of Entertainment Studios: “I am very proud to extend our partnership with Verizon by adding The Weather Channel, to the Fios TV channel lineup, as well as the renewal of the portfolio of Entertainment Studios Television networks.”

Marina del Rey, Calif. — In the current content climate, companies need scale and leverage. So said Byron Allen, founder, owner, chairman and CEO of Entertainment Studios, at the OTT & Video Distribution Summit.

“Where you get in trouble is if you’re too small,” Allen said during his keynote. “You cannot be big enough. You have to get bigger, and you have to do it quickly. And the way you do it is you have to do it through acquisitions.” Allen’s ES bought The Weather Channel parent The Weather Group this year. The acquisition, he said, gives the company leverage to help its seven other networks: Cars.tv, Comedy. tv, ES.tv, MyDestination.tv, Pets.tv, Recipe.tv and JusticeCentral.tv.

“As we get greater distribution for these other seven networks, there’s about $100 million a year in advertising in each network,” he said.

This year, Entertainment Studios turned 25, but the road to that milestone was not always smooth. “I never stopped picking up the phone and dialing and selling and dialing and selling,” Allen told MCN managing director of content Mark Robichaux. The entrepreneur cited a New York Times article about Verizon’s investment in fiber and plans to launch 150 HD channels. The article inspired Allen to reach out to Verizon and, while he didn’t get the 10 HD channels he wanted, Verizon did give him six, which eventually led to a seventh with the pickup of Justice Central.

ES owns the content on its networks, something Allen said will become more and more valuable for companies as technology changes and morphs.

The Detroit-born programmer is looking to the future in other ways as well.

Sports.tv, Allen said, will “segregate, aggregate and globalize sports.”

“The true religion of the world is sports,” he said. “That’s why we’re saying Sports.tv is for us; that’s everything. And that’s the war we’re going to win.”

AT&T-owned DirecTV, the top U.S. pay-TV service (rankings), today dropped weather-centric WeatherNation and installed rival AccuWeather Network in its place. 

WeatherNation had forecasted the drop on Monday, issuing a release about the upcoming drop from DirecTV and the DirecTV Now streaming service. 

The official statement from DirecTV and AccuWeather was: "AccuWeather Network will be available on DIRECTV (Channel 361) starting Aug. 1. AccuWeather Network’s experienced team of meteorologists and weather broadcasters, both in the studio and in the field, provide weather forecasts with Superior Accuracy, plus compelling weather news and content 24 x 7."

WeatherNation, on DirecTV since 2014, was dismayed. “Ever since DIRECTV posted publicly that they would no longer carry WeatherNation as of Aug. 1, we’ve been bombarded by viewers expressing their frustration and asking us why?,” WeatherNation president Michael Norton said in the statement. “I wish we could give them an answer, but we’re just as shocked and dismayed as they are. It’s an unfortunate decision by DIRECTV, especially given overwhelming customer engagement and the fact that they offered no terms by which they would continue carrying the service.”

AccuWeather, meanwhile, launched today on channel 361, which had been WeatherNation's slot. Accuweather is also carried on Frontier and on Fios, which added it when Fios dropped The Weather Channel in 2015. Accuweather is not on DirecTV Now yet but is expected to be added soon.

WeatherNation's run on DirecTV goes back to the time in 2014 when, as "TV Answer Man" Phillip Swann noted, the satellite-TV provider had opted to drop TWC for a few months. The Weather Channel is long since back on DirecTV.

Xumo, the free, ad-supported OTT video aggregation service, has expanded its streaming slate with the addition of Local Now, the hyper-local service that’s backed by The Weather Channel.

Launched in June 2016, Local Now delivers localized content in areas such as news, weather (of course), lifestyle, sports, business and traffic. Content partners for the service include the Associated Press, American City Business Journals, SportsRadar and Flight Aware, and others. Local Now counts Sling TV, Dish Network’s OTT TV service, among its distributors.

RELATED: The Weather Channel Streams Out ‘Local Now’

Xumo will initially offer Local Now on Channel Plus, a Xumo-powered service for webOS-based smart TVs from LG Electronics, as channel IP-126. The Local Now stream will dynamically update in the Channel Plus service based on the viewer’s zip code selection.

Xumo will also extend access to Local Now on other compatible platforms, which include smart TVs from LG Electronics, Vizio, Panasonic, Magnavox, Panasonic, Philips, Sanyo and Hisense, as well as Roku devices and apps for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. In October, Xumo announced a distribution/integration deal with Layer3 TV, the Denver-based MVPD.

If you’ve been anywhere near an internet connection in the last day, surely you’ve seen The Weather Channel’s attempt to film the implosion of the Georgia Dome being thwarted by a MARTA bus that pulled in front of the camera at the most inopportune time.

The Weather Channel reportedly had been camped out for 40 minutes in a perfect spot to live-stream the coming destruction, when this happened:

That bizarre moment inspired a flow of funny sports-theme memes, including this one from Sports Illustrated:

Today's Georgia Dome implosion isn't the first time the MARTA bus had terrible timing pic.twitter.com/pNSyY5fPQf

— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) November 21, 2017

And the opportunity to exact some good-natured ribbing didn’t get by some of Atlanta’s pro sports teams:

From The Atlanta Falcons:

REALLY, MARTA?! pic.twitter.com/t2D6dXX9lc

— Atlanta Falcons (@AtlantaFalcons) November 21, 2017

The Atlanta Hawks:

Final from San Antonio: pic.twitter.com/WaGJIU1Ins

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) November 21, 2017

Even James Crugnale, associate science editor at The Weather Channel, was able to joke about it, eventually:

Please give full credit for filming the epic bus photobomb to my colleague Jason Rudge (@Jason_R_Rudge)! I just GIFed it for posterity and didn't know this was going to become such a monster meme!

— James Crugnale (@jamescrugnale) November 21, 2017

The San Jose Sharks also got into the action:

Got a great view of Donskoi's goal. #SJSharkspic.twitter.com/tnCuqDLdH4

— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 21, 2017

The return of college football on ESPN as well as The Weather Channel's live coverage of Hurricane Irma teamed to knock Fox News from its exclusive perch atop the weekly cable primetime and total day charts.

ESPN tied Fox News atop the primetime charts for the week of Sept. 4 to Sept. 10 with 2.3 million viewers, according to Nielsen. Fox News has now held or shared the top spot of the weekly primetime charts for 16 consecutive weeks.

The Weather Channel finished a close third with 2.2 million viewers, followed by MSNBC’s 1.9 million viewers and CNN’s 1.8 million watchers.

Rounding out the top 10 most watched networks in primetime for the week were USA (1.5 million), HGTV (1.3 million), TBS (1.1 million) and FX and Investigation Discovery (tied with 1 million).

The Weather Channel’s coverage of Hurricane Irma helped the network finish as the most watched cable network on a total day basis, ending Fox News’ streak of 35 consecutive weeks in the top spot. CNN, MSNBC and Nickelodeon rounded out the top five. 

TWC was also the most watched network among 18-49 year olds on a 24-hour basis, while ESPN was the top choice for viewers in the demo in primetime. 

ESPN’s Sept. 4 Tennessee/Georgia Tech college football telecast drew 5.1 million viewers to finish as the most watched cable show of the week, with The Weather Channel’s Hurricane Irma coverage dominating the rest of the top 10 list, according to Nielsen.