Meet Byron Allen, the comic-turned-media mogul who’s taking over CBS late night

By Jordan Valinsky, CNN

New York (CNN) — Byron Allen got his first big break as a teenage comedian on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.” Nearly five decades later, he is returning to late night not just as a comic, but as a billionaire media mogul with a sprawling and unconventional empire.

Allen owns The Weather Channel. He recently bought a controlling stake in BuzzFeed. He has made splashy, unsuccessful bids for Paramount, ABC, BET and Tegna. He has even expressed interest in buying CNN.

On Friday, the comic-turned-media mogul is taking over CBS’s 11:35 pm slot, the storied perch once occupied by David Letterman and Stephen Colbert, with “Comics Unleashed,” a low-cost, politics-free comedy show that reflects both his roots as a stand-up and the business model that made him one of the most unusual figures in American media.

The move marks a dramatic shift for CBS late night: from Colbert’s topical, Trump-era comedy to a syndicated-style comedy format built around quick jokes and minimal controversy.

“We don’t talk about politics,” Allen told CNN’s Michael Smerconish earlier this month. “We don’t talk about anything that’s topical. We don’t do anything that’s racist, sexist or antisemitic or homophobic.”

He added: “Just be funny and don’t offend.”

From performer to power player

According to Allen, 65, a comedian has two birthdays: One is the day they were born, and the other is their first time on Johnny Carson’s show.

At 18, the Detroit native was one of the youngest comedians to perform stand-up on Carson’s show, making his debut on May 17, 1979, a week before graduating high school.

“I watched him like clockwork,” Allen sold Smerconish, reflecting on his admiration of Carson, who hosted NBC’s “The Tonight Show” for 30 years.

“This is what I want to do for the rest of my life: I’m going to make people laugh,” he said on CNN.

So, he did just that. His first big break came in 1979, when he hosted NBC’s “Real People,” a newsmagazine show that profiled eccentric people across the United States.

Allen said he chose it because of the exposure it gave him, since the unique show aired during primetime on a widely watched broadcast network. Learning about how a TV show works sparked the comic’s interest in being on the other side of the camera.

“Early on I figured out it’s not show business, it’s business, show,” Allen said on The Breakfast Club this week. “I started approaching it as a business.”

He soon developed a business model that would define his career: producing reality shows and selling them directly to local stations.

In 1993, he created Entertainment Studios, helping establish his dominance in syndicated TV. The company produces inexpensive reality programs centering around courtrooms, comedy and lifestyle and offers them to local TV stations for free in exchange for splitting ad revenue.

He recalled to Smerconish a time when he spent a year calling television stations from his dining room table in his pajamas, convincing executives to carry his programs. He initially received hundreds of no’s before he was successful.

“I literally wore holes in my dining room table of sitting there from sun up to sun down,” Allen recalled, before launching “Entertainers with Byron Allen,” which still airs today.

In 2006, he then created and continues to host “Comics Unleashed,” the show that’s taking over the CBS time slot. The program is a “time buy,” in which a producer leases a time slot from a network and recoups costs by selling ad time during the show.

But Allen had bigger media ambitions than syndicated talk shows, making some big acquisitions over the years, most notably The Weather Channel for about $300 million in 2018. He controls more than two dozen local TV stations, and his company bought a nearly 11% stake in entertainment company Starz earlier this year.

Forbes has estimated Allen’s net worth in the billions.

Now, he’s making a bigger push into the digital space. Earlier this month, he paid $120 million for a controlling stake in BuzzFeed, the once high-flying media company that has collapsed after going public in 2021. Allen plans to revamp BuzzFeed with a focus on video and fold it into his streaming service called Local Now.

Allen said the era of the internet and streaming has democratized the type of voices that can find success.

“Technology is a great way for everyone to get very wealthy,” he told The Breakfast Club. “If you are talented, if you have a great idea, if you have something good, you have global distribution. Your chances of success are far greater than it’s ever been.”

Entertainment Studios, which was renamed Allen Media Group in 2020 to reflect the company’s growing ambitions, including some that haven’t panned out.

In 2024, he offered $30 billion for Paramount Global, and in 2023, he offered Disney a reported $10 billion for ABC and some of its cable networks and considered a bid for E.W. Scripps. He’s also offered multibillion-dollar bids to buy Tegna and BET. None of the offers were accepted.

He has also sparked controversy over how he operates his local TV stations. Last year, he gutted the weather departments at about 24 local affiliates and planned to lay off about 50 meteorologists in a move to “hub” the forecasts at larger stations and within The Weather Channel. The plan was dialed back after viewer outrage.

Eyeing CBS

Allen hasn’t said how much he is paying CBS for the 11:35 pm time slot, but he has depicted it as a win for both parties. He told The Wrap that CBS will save “approximately $150 million+ per year just on production and marketing.”

“People were surprised that I bought the time period,” he admitted to Smerconish, adding that “all time periods are bought,” referencing old programs like “The Colgate Comedy Hour” and “Texaco Star Theater.” Both of those were sponsored variety shows on broadcast networks that aired more than half a century ago.

As for “Comics Unleashed,” viewers will see different show compared with his predecessors. The half-hour show features comedians telling jokes and was inspired by his meetups at Los Angeles restaurants with other comics after their shows.

Friday’s premiere date for his show isn’t a coincidence, either.

“My hero, Johnny Carson, his last night was on Friday, May 22nd, 1992,” Allen told Smerconish. “Let’s keep America laughing.”

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