Byron Allen^[1] (bornByron Allen Folks on April 22, 1961)^[2] is an American businessman, film and television producer, and comedian. He is the founder of the American media companyAllen Media Group (formerly Entertainment Studios), which has interests in television production, broadcasting, film production, and digital media.

Born inDetroit and later moving to Los Angeles, he initially pursued a career instand-up comedy. After an appearance onThe Tonight Show, Allen began to expand into television work, including co-hostingNBC'sReal People (1979—1984). In 1993, Allen established what would later become known as Entertainment Studios.

Allen was born inDetroit, lived there until 1968, when he moved to Los Angeles with his mother after her divorce.^[2] His interest in show business began during his childhood when he accompanied his mother, Carolyn Folks,^[3] toNBC Studios inBurbank where she worked as apublicist.^[4]

At age 14, Allen put together his firststand-up routine and began appearing on amateur night at comedy clubs throughout theLos Angeles area.^[4] Allen attended high school atFairfax High School in Los Angeles and college at theUniversity of Southern California.^[5]

ComedianJimmie Walker saw Allen'sstand-up act and invited the 14-year-old comedian to join his comedy writing team alongside promising young comediansJay Leno andDavid Letterman. In 1979 at the age of 18, Allen made his television debut onThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, becoming the youngest comedian to ever perform on the show;^[6] he used the appearance to learn more about the television industry.^[7]

Following his appearance onThe Tonight Show,NBC cast Allen as a host and reporter forReal People—his first role on a networkprime time program.^[7] Allen co-wrote and co-starred in the 1988CBStelevision filmCase Closed,^[7][8] hosted the syndicatedlate-night talk showThe Byron Allen Show from 1989 to 1992,^[7] and toured as an opening act for musicians such asDolly Parton,Gladys Knight,Lionel Richie, andThe Pointer Sisters.^[7]

In 1993, Allen established a production company known asCF Entertainment, which would be devoted to producing low-cost non-fiction television programming;^[9][10] its first program would be the syndicated talk showEntertainers with Byron Allen, which featured Allen interviewing celebrities. The interviews were filmed at hotelpress junkets for upcoming films, using equipment set up by their distributors for use by the media; this allowed Allen to produce the show on a relatively small budget. Allen distributed the program under abartered model, in which it would be offered to stations at no cost, withrevenue sharing on advertising sales.^[7] The business model was not initially successful, resulting in Allen's home facing multipleforeclosures, and at one point losing telephone service—requiring him to conduct business via apayphone.^[7]

The company was renamed Entertainment Studios in 2003, and later became theAllen Media Group with Entertainment Studios becoming the name of its production subsidiary.^[10] In 2012, Allen began forays into scripted programming with the sitcomsThe First Family andMr. Box Office.^[11][12][13] Later in the decade, Entertainment Studios began to pursue various acquisitions, including film distributorFreestyle Releasing,^[14]TheGrio,^[15]The Weather Channel,^[16][17] an equity stake inSinclair Broadcast Group's acquisition of theFox Sports Networks,^[18] and broadcast television stations.^[19] By October 2022, the company was valued at over $4.5 billion.^[20]

In February 2022, Allen made a bid to buy theDenver Broncos of theNational Football League.^[21] Allen was ultimately outbid by a group led byS. Robson Walton.^[22][23]

In 2023, Allen had made an unsuccessful bid of about $3 billion for Paramount’sBET Media Group.^[24]

Beginning in 2006, Allen hosted and produced the syndicated comedy panel showComics Unleashed with Byron Allen. In 2023, and again beginning in September 2025, the show was aired onCBS in the 12:35 AMlate-night slot under atime buy arrangement whereby Allen's company bought airtime from CBS and sold commercial time advertisers itself.^[25]

In 2018, Allen was selected for theBloomberg 50 as one of "the people in business, entertainment, finance, politics, technology and science whose 2018 accomplishments were particularly noteworthy".^[26]

He was also selected for the 100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs at theGoldman Sachs Builders & Innovators Summit 2018, and he was honored byThe Salvation Army and theLos Angeles Metropolitan advisory board at the Salvation Army's 11th annualChristmas Kettle luncheon.^[27]

In January 2019, Allen was a recipient ofNational Association of Television Program Executives's 16th AnnualBrandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards,^[28] presented during the annual NATPE Miami Marketplace & Conference. Allen received the 2019Whitney Young Award at the 46th annual Los Angeles Urban League Awards dinner.^[29]

In February 2023, the African American Student Union of theHarvard Business School presented Allen with its inaugural "Legendary Honor".^[30]

Allen married TV producer Jennifer Lucas in 2007.^[31] The couple has three children.^[32][33][34] Allen is on theMotion Picture & Television Fund Board of Governors.^[35]

Allen has residences inAspen,Maui, Los Angeles, and New York City. In 2022, he bought a two-home compound inBeverly Hills, California fromJeffrey Skoll for $22 million,^[36] and a mansion inMalibu, California, previously owned byTamara Gustavson for $100 million.^[20][37]

Allen filed a $10 billion lawsuit, in 2021, through his company, Allen Media Group. He alleged the McDonald's hamburger chain discriminated against Black-owned media companies in its TV advertising budget.

Allen’s suit alleged McDonald’s practice of buying ad time on media outlets that target Black viewers was discriminatory because those purchases were made from a budget set aside for what the complaint described as “the African American tier” of outlets and was damaging to Black media owners because that tier had more limited funds available than the general tier that the company used for broader audiences on major networks and platforms.

The case was settled out of court in 2025.^[38]

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• 47 Meters Down - Executive Producer
• 47 Meters Down: Uncaged - Executive Producer
• Arctic Dogs - Executive Producer
• Case Closed - Co-Executive Producer
• Comics Unleashed - Executive Producer
• Funny You Should Ask - Creator, Executive Producer
• The Hurricane Heist - Executive Producer
• The World's Funniest Weather - Creator, Executive Producer

• Byron Allen atIMDb

• 1961 births
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