Byron Allen, who owns one of the biggest media empires in the country, said he was “truly blessed” to be able to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“I’m truly blessed,” Allen said at Detroit Free press. “As a young kid growing up in Detroit, in a blue collar family, I never imagined that I would go to Los Angeles for a two week vacation with my mom and end up staying and one day being a star in Hollywood. Boulevard next to someone who gave me a break, Johnny Carson.
Allen, 60, owns Allen Media Group, a $3 billion company that includes 32 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network-affiliated television stations in 20 U.S. markets. The company also owns The Weather Channel and a dozen other high-definition television channels serving 180 million subscribers.
“I own just under 5% of the TV channels in the United States,” Allen said. “No black man in America has ever owned more television channels than I have.”
Allen’s goal in wanting to build the largest media company in the world is to fight for economic equality for black people. He wants to achieve “one America” through “the four Es”, education, equal justice, economic inclusion and environmental protection.
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“Once we achieve that goal, we can reach a piece of heaven here on earth,” Allen said. leGrio, a medium he owns. “I think if we can get people to focus on that, to see that, to think that, to believe that, and to pursue that, then we have something really worth devoting our lives to.”
Earlier this year, Allen and six other executives of black-owned media companies organized a full page ad in the Detroit Free Press accusing GM and CEO Mary Barra of systemic racism for years for refusing to meet with them. At the time, GM was spending less than 2% of its advertising budget with black-owned media companies. Allen and the other executives got GM to commit to spending 8% of its budget with black-owned media companies by 2025.
“I speak to GM personally and those conversations and negotiations are continuing as we speak,” Allen said. “Within the next week or two, we should have a clear idea of what this economic inclusion looks like.”
“For me, I’m not trying to change the city. For me, I’m building the greatest media company in the world and we’re making change around the world,” Allen said.
