Comedian and Hollywood mogul Byron Allen has acquired Weather Group, The Weather Channel’s parent company, from the Blackstone Group, Bain Capital and Comcast-NBCUniversal.
For the past 25 years, Allen’s Entertainment Studios Inc., an independent movie and TV producer and distributor, has built business lines that have reached hundreds of millions of viewers and consumers. Allen called The Weather Channel “an American treasure” and a phenomenal asset that he intends to expand.
“We’re just honored to be able to own and take it to the next level,” he said in a statement. “They’re already doing great, we’re just going to invest more to position it for greater success” domestically and internationally.”
Meteorologist Jim Cantore is among the familiar faces at the basic cable channel that’s available in more than 80 million North American homes.
While Entertainment Studios declined to confirm the figure, the reported purchase price for the channel and Local Now, a news streaming service, was $300 million.
