Byron Allen Folks (born April 22, 1961) is the founder of the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

entertainment company

Entertainment Studios Entertainment Studios, Inc., also known as Allen Media Group, is an American media and entertainment company based in Los Angeles. Owned and founded in 1993 by businessman Byron Allen, the company was initially involved in the production and d ...

which includes

The Weather Channel The Weather Channel (TWC) is an American pay television channel owned by Weather Group, LLC, a subsidiary of Allen Media Group. The channel's headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Launched on May 2, 1982, the channel broadcasts weather forecas ...

. He is also a

television producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television show, television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television net ...

, philanthropist, and comedian in his younger years. Notable shows Allen hosted or co-hosted include: ''

Real People ''Real People'' is an American reality television series that originally aired on NBC from 1979 to 1984, Wednesdays from 8 pm to 9pm Eastern Time. Its initial episodes aired live in the Eastern and Central time zones. ''Real People'' featured "r ...

'', ''The Byron Allen Show'', ''

Entertainers with Byron Allen ''Entertainers with Byron Allen'' (formerly ''EntertainmentStudios.com'') is an American interview television series hosted by Byron Allen, which usually aired in syndication during low-profile weekend time slots, such as early afternoons agains ...

'', ''

Comics Unleashed ''Comics Unleashed'' is a half-hour comedic talk show produced by the Entertainment Studios production company (formerly CF Entertainment) and hosted by Byron Allen, with John Cramer as announcer and DJ Cobra or sometimes DJ A1 providing music ...

'' and ''Kickin' It with Byron Allen''. He is also the creator and executive producer of '' Funny You Should Ask'', which he appeared on frequently.

Early life and education

Allen was born in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, grew up there until 1968 when he moved with his mother after her divorce to Los Angeles. His interest in show business began during his childhood when he accompanied his mother, Carolyn Folks, to NBC Studios in Burbank (where she worked as a

publicist A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a company, a brand, or public figure – especially a celebrity – or for a work such as a book, film, or album. Publicists are public relations specialists who ...

). At age 14, Allen put together his first stand-up routine, and began appearing on amateur night at comedy clubs throughout the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

area. Allen attended high school at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles and college at the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

Professional career

Comedian

Jimmie Walker James Carter Walker Jr. (born June 25, 1947) is an American actor and comedian. Walker portrayed James Evans Jr. ("J.J."), the older son of Florida and James Evans Sr., on the CBS television series '' Good Times'', which ran from 1974 to 1979 ...

saw Allen's stand-up act and invited the 14-year-old comedian to join his comedy writing team alongside promising young comedians

Jay Leno James Douglas Muir Leno (; born April 28, 1950) is an American television host, comedian, writer, and actor. After doing stand-up comedy for years, he became the host of NBC's ''The Tonight Show'' from 1992 to 2009. Beginning in September 2009 ...

and

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

. At age 18, Allen made his television debut on ''

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson ''The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson'' was an American late-night talk show hosted by Johnny Carson on NBC, the third iteration of the ''Tonight Show'' franchise. The show debuted on October 1, 1962, and aired its final episode on May 22, ...

'', becoming the youngest stand-up comedian on the show. One of his earliest roles was as a regular

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for ...

on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

series ''

'', joining the cast at the beginning of the second season. His show ''Jammin was picked up as ''Kickin' It with Byron Allen'' in 1992, which ran for more than 21 seasons. Allen's foray into television production began in Los Angeles in 1993, when he founded

with the launch of his first series ''

''. It was a weekly, one-hour interview series profiling current stars of film and television. In 2018, Entertainment Studios acquired

from

NBCUniversal NBCUniversal Media, LLC is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate corporation owned by Comcast and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, United States. NBCUniversal is primari ...

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

and Blackstone Inc. In 2019, he partnered with

Sinclair Broadcast Group Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...

Diamond Sports Group Diamond Sports Group LLC is an American media and entertainment company operating as a subsidiary of Sinclair Broadcast Group, and partnered with Entertainment Studios. The company operates Bally Sports, a group of regional sports channels which ...

to acquire the regional

Fox Sports Networks Fox Sports Networks (FSN), formerly known as Fox Sports Net, was the collective name for a group of regional sports channels in the United States. Formed in 1996 by News Corporation, the networks were acquired by The Walt Disney Company on Mar ...

, which

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

agreed to sell as a condition of its purchase of 21st Century Fox and Diamond Holding Group rebranded as

Bally Sports The Bally Sports Regional Networks are a group of regional sports networks in the United States owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint-venture company of the Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios. The naming rights to the network we ...

. In February 2022, Allen made a bid to buy the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

. Allen was ultimately outbid by S. Robson Walton.

Awards

In 2018, Allen was selected for the

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician and ma ...

50 as one of "the people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, technology and science whose 2018 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy". He was also selected for the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at the

Goldman Sachs Goldman Sachs () is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered at 200 West Street in Lower Manhattan, with regional headquarters in London, Warsaw, Bangalore, H ...

Builders & Innovators Summit 2018, and he was honored by

The Salvation Army The Salvation Army (TSA) is a Protestant church and an international charitable organisation headquartered in London, England. The organisation reports a worldwide membership of over 1.7million, comprising soldiers, officers and adherents col ...

and the Los Angeles Metropolitan advisory board at the Salvation Army's 11th annual Christmas Kettle luncheon. In January 2019, Allen was a recipient of

National Association of Television Program Executives The National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE) is a professional association of television and emerging media executives. The organization was established in 1963. NATPE implements its mission by providing members with educati ...

's 16th Annual

Brandon Tartikoff Brandon Tartikoff (January 13, 1949 – August 27, 1997) was an American television executive who was the president of NBC from 1981 to 1991. He was credited with turning around NBC's low prime time reputation with such hit series as ''Hill Stre ...

Legacy Awards, presented during the annual NATPE Miami Marketplace & Conference. Allen received the 2019

Whitney Young Whitney Moore Young Jr. (July 31, 1921 – March 11, 1971) was an American civil rights leader. Trained as a social worker, he spent most of his career working to end employment discrimination in the United States and turning the National Urban ...

Award at the 46th annual Los Angeles Urban League Awards dinner.

Personal life

Allen married TV producer Jennifer Lucas in 2007. The couple has three children. Allen is on the

Motion Picture & Television Fund The Motion Picture & Television Fund (MPTF) is a charitable organization that offers assistance and care to those in the motion picture and television industries and their families with limited or no resources, including services such as tempo ...

Board of Governors.

References

External links

*
Entertainment Studios
{{DEFAULTSORT:Allen, Byron 1961 births 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American businesspeople African-American businesspeople African-American television personalities American chief executives in the media industry American stand-up comedians Television producers from California American television talk show hosts African-American television talk show hosts Businesspeople from Detroit Businesspeople from Los Angeles Comedians from Los Angeles County Comedians from Michigan Entertainment Studios Living people 20th-century African-American people 21st-century African-American people