CBS and Allen Media Broadcasting closed a new multiyear deal to renew CBS affiliations at five stations.
The station affiliations involved with the deal include KIMT Rochester, Minnesota; KHSL Chico, California; HSL Terre Haute, Indiana; WLFI West Lafayette, Indiana; and WEVV Evansville, Indiana.
“We are delighted to continue our relationship with CBS network,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of Allen Media Group, according to The Wrap. “CBS has been an outstanding partner to our five affiliate stations by delivering phenomenal programming across all genres – including entertainment, news, and highly-coveted sports – to our viewers. We look forward to extending our partnership with CBS.”
CBS and Allen Media Broadcasting were not immediately available for comment.
The new deal comes ahead of CBS’s broadcast of Super Bowl LVIII next month, which will air on CBS and its affiliate stations as well as stream on Paramount+. This marks the first time CBS will broadcast a professional football game in 4K and 1080p HDR.
It also comes as Allen, a comedian-turned-media mogul, has been working on growing his company “organically” by making “strategic acquisitions,” according to Variety.
“I haven’t yet done what I set out to do – we’re tiny, and while we’re growing exponentially, we’re still in our infancy,” said Allen. “The goal is to build the world’s biggest media company and use it to effect change for the greater good.”
Last September, Byron Allen bid $10 billion to buy FX, National Geographic, ABC Network, and Disney-owned affiliates. However, Disney showed reluctance to sell and is still considering buyers, including Nexstar, if it decides to sell at all. Byron has also bid $3.5 billion for BET and BET+.
Allen Media Group owns or operates 28 ABC, CBS, FOX, or NBC, all networks scheduled to host Super Bowls through the next 11 years, network-affiliated broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets.
The company has twelve 24-hour HD television networks that reach nearly 300 million subscribers, including The Weather Channel, The Weather Channel En En Español, Pets.TV, Comedy.TV, Recipe.TV, Cars.TV, ES.TV, MyDestination.TV, JusticeCentral.TV, TheGrio Television Network, ThisTV, and Pattrn.
Allen Media Group also owns streaming platforms HBCU Go, Sports.TV, TheGrio, and a free ad-supported service run by The WeatherChannel called Local Now.
The Super Bowl will also be streamable on Paramount+, NFL+, Fubo, Hulu+ Live TV, and YouTube TV.