Byron Allen has significantly expanded his media footprint with two high-profile deals, stepping into both late-night television and the digital media sector. He is set to acquire a controlling stake in the struggling media company BuzzFeed and will also take over a prime CBS late-night slot previously held by “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.”

Allen Media Group, which already owns 13 local TV stations and The Weather Channel among other properties, announced a deal to acquire a 52% controlling stake in BuzzFeed. This involves an upfront payment of $20 million in cash and a $100 million promissory note due in five years. Upon the deal's closing, expected by the end of the month, Allen will replace co-founder Jonah Peretti as BuzzFeed's chairman and CEO, with Peretti transitioning to president of BuzzFeed AI.

Since its IPO in 2021, BuzzFeed has faced significant financial challenges, struggling with debt and operating in the red, having passed its peak viral-content era a decade ago. The company had expressed “substantial doubt” about its ability to continue as a going concern, reporting a net loss of $57.3 million in full-year 2025 (compared to $34 million in 2024) on declining revenue of $185.3 million. Once valued at $1.7 billion, the acquisition was clearly a distressed sale, a fact Allen acknowledged, stating, “It was definitely a distressed sale — without a doubt.”

Allen is confident in his ability to turn BuzzFeed around, stating he has “done much harder things” and that “the money is the easy part. The strategy is to really grow this.” His core strategy involves transforming BuzzFeed and HuffPost into a “premier global free streaming service.” This new platform will integrate professionally produced content and user-generated videos, aiming to bring these brands “to your living room.”

To achieve this streaming vision, Allen plans to leverage his existing Local Now streaming service, which he describes as “best-in-class.” Local Now offers “super-hyper-localization” down to the Zip Code for news, weather, sports, and traffic, processing about 500,000 pieces of video daily. By combining Local Now’s aggregated content and localized platform with original programming from BuzzFeed and HuffPost, Allen believes they can immediately attract substantial advertising dollars, capitalizing on the rapid shift of ad spending from cable to free streaming. “The two best words in the world are ‘free’ and ‘streaming,'” he noted.

The new streaming platform will also feature user-generated content, with Allen's company offering a revenue share to creators. He explicitly stated, “We are chasing YouTube,” aiming to distribute content that also resides on the dominant video platform, asserting, “That same content sitting at YouTube can also be distributed with us.”

Concurrently, Allen has secured a two-hour nightly comedy block on CBS. Following the cancellation of Colbert’s show, Allen’s “Comics Unleashed” will air two back-to-back episodes in the 11:35 p.m. slot, starting May 22. He will continue to lease the 12:37 a.m. hour for his comedy game show “Funny You Should Ask.” This deal with CBS for the late-night airtime extends through the 2026-27 TV season, with Allen Media Group handling all ad sales.

Allen called Colbert’s cancellation “an unfortunate event,” praising Stephen Colbert as “a magnificent human being” and “an American treasure.” However, he saw it as an opportunity, highlighting to CBS executives that his deal would not only save them production costs but also bring millions of dollars to the network. He chose May 22 for the premiere, precisely 34 years after his “hero Johnny Carson” signed off from “The Tonight Show” on May 22, 1992, stating he would share thoughts about late night in the first episode. “Comics Unleashed” will feature “clean comedy” without political, racist, sexist, or homophobic content, he added.

Allen continues to pursue other media acquisitions. In March, his investment arm acquired a 10.7% stake in Starz Entertainment for $25 million. Starz subsequently implemented a “poison pill” shareholder-rights plan to deter hostile takeovers. Allen dismissed this move as “stupid,” asserting it would not prevent him from eventually acquiring the company and making Starz “infinitely bigger.” In the past, he had made an unsuccessful $30 billion bid for Paramount Global in 2024 and offered $3.5 billion for BET in late 2023.

Despite becoming BuzzFeed’s CEO, Allen will retain his roles as chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, which he founded in 1993. His company’s portfolio includes 13 ABC, CBS, and NBC network affiliate broadcast television stations in 11 U.S. markets, The Weather Channel, and various digital properties like Pets.tv, Comedy.tv, TheGrio, and HBCU GO. He plans to manage both companies by relying on strong management teams, noting he has rarely visited The Weather Channel offices since acquiring it in 2018. His management philosophy: “I hire the best, I pay the best, and I say, ‘Play your position.'”