Bryon Allen’s Entertainment Studios has purchased the Weather Group, parent company of the Weather Channel network and Local Now Streaming service.
Allen Media acquired the Weather Channel from Comcast/NBCUniversal, the Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“The Weather Channel is one of the most trusted and extremely important cable networks, with information vitally important to the safety and protection of our lives,” said Byron Allen, founder, chairman, & CEO of Entertainment Studios, in a statement. “We welcome The Weather Channel, which has been seen in American households for nearly four decades, to our cable television networks division. The acquisition of The Weather Channel is strategic, as we begin our process of investing billions of dollars over the next five years to acquire some of the best media assets around the world.”
The latest transaction adds to Entertainment Studios’ portfolio of assets, which include broadcast television syndication, production, and distribution of more than 41 programs, eight 24-hour cable networks reaching nearly 160 million subscribers, theatrical motion picture production, acquisition and distribution, digital movie acquisition and distribution, and global news publishing.
Entertainment Studios ow cable networks including Pets.tv, Comedy.tv, Recepie.tv, Cars.tv, ES.tv, MyDestination.tv, and JusticeCentral.tv.
“We are excited to join Entertainment Studios, and we are especially proud to be part of one of the largest emerging global media companies,” Dave Shull, CEO of The Weather Channel, said. “Byron Allen’s purchase of our innovative and forward-thinking organization will increase the value we bring to our viewers, distributors, and advertisers.”
