T Dog’s Think Tank: Allen Media Group’s actions hurt local TV more than its thinks
As viewers abandon linear TV, the people who run these stations are doing more harm than good
Being a meteorologist in the post-Tom Skilling era has been rough.
In an unthinkable move just five years ago, Allen Media Group announced nearly two weeks ago that it was firing its entire roster of meteorologists across the station group. The company planned to move its operations to a new hub created at co-owned The Weather Channel in Atlanta. 27 stations were affected, including NBC affiliate WREX in Rockford, ninety miles northwest of Chicago.
Allen apparently backtracked from the idea, as an angry advertiser reportedly pulled ads from one of Allen’s stations (NBC affiliate WTVA in Columbus-Tupelo, MS) over the move. Allen now says the hub “is a work in progress,” and no meteorologists were fired from their positions – at least not yet, but all indications changes are ahead, and the new Atlanta hub will be in use for some stations. The backlash was predictable, as eliminating meteorologists would deprive local communities of weather coverage – especially during severe events, including tornadoes and hurricanes. Weather is the top reason viewers tune in to local news to begin with.
Allen Media Group’s CEO is comedian Byron Allen, whose appearance on The Tonight Show at eighteen led him to co-host NBC’s Real People and become a syndicated weekly late-night talk show host, with The Byron Allen Show airing from 1989 to 1992.
Two years after his talk show career abruptly ended (it expanded to a daily strip in September 1992 and lasted less than three months), Allen founded Entertainment Studios and returned to syndication with The Entertainers, a celebrity interview show still airing today. From there, Entertainment Studios launched more shows including Comics Unleashed, ill-fated sitcoms Mr. Box Office and The First Family, and game show Funny You Should Ask. Allen later bought the local stations – mostly in mid-sized and small markets and The Weather Channel, adding more reality-type shows to its schedule and renamed the company after himself. Allen also bought digital subchannels This and Light TV from MGM, revamping the latter into TheGrio.TV. Allen also went toe-to-toe with corporate America, suing Comcast and McDonald’s for refusing to do business with him, and slammed McDonald’s CEO for making insensitive remarks after a seven-year-old was gunned down on the West Side in the drive-thru of one of his restaurants.
Allen, however, developed a reputation in the industry for producing cheap, low-quality programming – despite his company being valued at $4.5 billion and making wild bids to acquire ABC, station group Tegna, the Denver Broncos, and BET. Even this site ragged on him at times, especially for the useless Comics Unleashed (which bombed in the ratings in a primetime slot on WCIU in 2006), whose reruns – for some godforsaken reason – still air today (I couldn’t verify if the show is still in production) and recently had a stint on CBS Late Night.
Not surprisingly, he’s transported this model to the world of local TV, falling in line with other station groups feeling the fallout of viewers cutting the cord, and with it the precious retransmission revenue stations receive from cable and satellite operators. Allen’s company has been hit the hardest, with reports circulating he hasn’t paid networks in “reverse compensation” fees.
One beneficiary of Allen’s missteps is rival Sinclair. After purchasing This TV and making it another outlet for his junk programming, ABC’s owned stations (including WLS-TV) dropped the channel for Sinclair’s Charge, leading to its closure. Earlier this month, Fox signed a deal with Sinclair to acquire TBD in five markets (including WFLD) replacing the over-the-air version of TheGrio.TV, also leading to its closure. Allen also recently closed the Spanish-language version of The Weather Channel after two years.
And at a time when a Black perspective is needed in news – especially with Trump back in the White House, Allen bought the Black News Channel out of bankruptcy – only to change it to another version of TheGrio and fill the entire schedule with reruns of old sitcoms and his scripted court shows.
Despite these setbacks, cutting the weather department is unwise, given the connection meteorologists have in the community when severe weather hits. Skilling certainly comes to mind, as he spent decades at WGN-TV reinventing forecasting, and became a beloved icon in our city. You can’t duplicate that from a hub in Atlanta, or anywhere else. But as we know, it’s a different era in TV now where talent isn’t exactly appreciated.
This comes as public trust in media is at an all-time low. New FCC Chairman Brendan Carr pledged to find the root causes of why that is, noting local stations need to serve the public interest. The funny thing is that Carr was silent when news of Allen laying off meteorologists was announced.
Of note, Allen is one of the few minorities in this business, running a station group and a production company – and it should be a source of pride. As a Black person, I was happy to see Byron Allen become an entrepreneur and break into the ownership ranks – something people of color rarely do. Unfortunately, Allen fumbled the ball – and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, turning into nothing more than a media business version of Jerry Reinsdorf. If Allen is compelled to sell because of Chapter 11 bankruptcy or other reasons, it would reinforce the misguided belief perpetuated by the new Presidential administration and FCC that diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives are ineffective. This could discourage future minority groups from owning media companies, and the way he runs AMG, Allen is doing more harm than good. It’s not only disappointing…it’s insulting and infuriating.