*Byron Allen, head of a major media company that includes the Weather Channel, TV stations, cable networks and more, says he sees his company as leverage to affect real change in the way corporate America does business, in an interview with Lee Cowan for CBS SUNDAY MORNING to be broadcast Sunday, Feb. 20 (9:00 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.
Allen is planning to bid for the Denver Broncos, which, if successful, would make him the first Black majority owner of an NFL franchise. He tells Cowan his media company is worth billions, but he won’t sell it. He sees it as a powerful tool to help not only increase Black issue-oriented programming – but also to demand more widespread inclusion in all areas of the business world.
“Do we or do we not have economic inclusion?” Allen asks. “And the answer is no. … We have to correct the greatest trade deficit in America, which is the trade deficit between white corporate America and Black America.”
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.@RealByronAllen, who is planning to bid for the NFL’s Denver Broncos, talks to @LeeCowanCBS this #CBSSundayMorning about being the owner of a major media company and being a role model for future black business leaders pic.twitter.com/AVMlF26y3l
— CBS Sunday Morning ???? (@CBSSunday) February 17, 2022
In addition to owning the Weather Channel, which has provided content to CBS News, the Allen Media Group includes 36 television stations, 12 cable networks, six streaming platforms and several distribution companies.
“There are kids out there who look like me that, when they see that, they’re going to, it’s going to change their perspective of themselves,” Allen says of his media empire.
In a wide-ranging conversation, Allen talks with Cowan about his childhood, trying to make it as a stand-up comedian, and why he needed to own his own company.
“You know, when Berry Gordy sold Motown, and I understand why he sold Motown, I was in the back of the room,” Allen says. “And I started crying. I started crying because I felt like we, as African Americans, we have to own something. We don’t own anything.”
Cowan also talks with Allen’s mother, Carolyn Folks.
“I remember he was playing executive when he was, like, 5 and 6 years old,” Folks says. “He had an office. And this office was in the basement.”
“I sat at a desk, and I just talked to imaginary executives,” Byron Allen says.
CBS SUNDAY MORNING is broadcast Sundays (9:00-10:30 AM, ET) on the CBS Television Network. Rand Morrison is the executive producer.
Follow CBS SUNDAY MORNING on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and at CBSNews.com. Listen to CBS SUNDAY MORNING podcasts on all podcast platforms. Stream CBS SUNDAY MORNING on Paramount+.
source: cbsnews.com
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