LAS VEGAS — Byron Allen, founder, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, spoke about his bid to acquire Paramount Global at NAB Show April 14. Allen called Paramount Global “a phenomenal company” and a healthy one at that.
“Paramount Global is an excellent business — it just needs time to right-size the ship,” he said, noting the substantial costs tied to Paramount Plus.
Allen said the key to winning the bid is being well-suited for approval. “Can you provide 1,000% certainty of close?” he said, stressing that his group has that advantage.
Allen was interviewed on a panel titled “Thriving in a New Television Syndication Paradigm” by Kathy Haley, publisher of TV NewsCheck. Allen said he would pursue a streaming merger with the likes of NBCUniversal’s Peacock and Warner Bros. Discovery if he were to acquire Paramount. “I think there will be a shakeout; I think there will be some merging,” he said of the various streamers.
An earlier panel touched on what the network-affiliate relationship looks like long term, and what happens when broadcasters’ deals with the NFL expire. Allen suggested the NFL needs broadcast as much as broadcast needs the league. He spoke of the merits of four networks distributing, and promoting, the NFL — a perk, he said, only the U.S. president gets.
“The networks need the affiliates,” he said. “Don’t forget about how much money we send them.”
Allen Media Group stations include WKOW Madison, WJRT Flint and WAAY Huntsville.
Allen said the networks are demanding too much reverse comp. He envisions the government stepping in, so the local broadcasters can use their cash for local news.
“You need local news. Local news matters. No one is thinking about sports when people are dying from a virus,” he said.
Speaking of the pandemic, Allen spoke about acquiring KITV Honolulu in 2020 when he was at his home in Maui and a lesson he learned shortly thereafter. No one was around, and he said boredom prompted him to call the station owner to discuss a deal. He bought the ABC station for $30 million, then pushed his family to watch his new acquisition.
Allen mentioned his teen daughter giving up watching at the first commercial break, saying she’d watch on streaming the next day, with no commercials.
Allen laid out his plan for broadcast to sustain itself. It involves capping local broadcasters’ reverse compensation payment at 50%, keeping broadcast content off streaming longer, as opposed to sharing it the next day, and keeping sports off of streaming altogether.
“You cannot have sports on streaming platforms,” Allen said. “Never, ever, ever, ever.”
