Byron Allen And Verizon Announce Black-Owned Media Summit For May 2021

LOS ANGELES, April 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Byron Allen's Allen Media Group and Verizon proudly announce their partnership in a new diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiative to increase media spending with U.S. Black-owned media companies. The summit event will occur next month.

"I'm very proud of Verizon, one of the largest advertisers in the world, coming to the table to make sure we have real economic inclusion for Black-owned media," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. "The biggest trade deficit in our nation is the trade deficit between corporate America and Black America, and we must close that gap immediately."

"Verizon has been working to address diversity, equity and inclusion issues for years and we are proud of the actions we continue to take to move the industry forward," said John Nitti, Chief Media Officer, Verizon. "Increasing our financial commitment to Black-owned media companies and partnering with Allen Media Group to host a summit that will provide these companies with resources to help enable long term growth is a crucial part of our responsible marketing action plan. It is also an important step in creating the equity the industry needs."

About Allen Media Group / Entertainment Studios
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Atlanta, and Raleigh.  Allen Media Group owns 16 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations and ten 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 180 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICE CENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO.TV, and THIS TV. Allen Media Group will add its eleventh network, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPANOL in 2021. Allen Media Group also owns LOCAL NOW and THE GRIO free-streaming AVOD services, powered by THE WEATHER CHANNEL and content partners, which delivers real-time, hyper-local news, weather, traffic, sports, and lifestyle information. Allen Media Group also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 67 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. Allen Media Group International Television continues to extend its corporate branding and content around the globe.  It currently has active license agreements and programming in South Africa, The United Arab Emirates, Australia, The Bahamas, Canada and New Zealand.  With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Allen Media Group provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web.  Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.

Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures is a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company specializing in wide release commercial content. ESMP released 2017's highest-grossing independent movie, the shark thriller 47 METERS DOWN, which grossed over $44.3 million. In 2018, ESMP also released the critically-acclaimed and commercially successful Western HOSTILES, the historic mystery-thriller CHAPPAQUIDDICK and the sequel to 47 METERS DOWN, 47 METERS DOWN: UNCAGED. The digital distribution unit of Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures, Freestyle Digital Media, is a premiere multi-platform distributor with direct partnerships across all major cable, digital and streaming platforms. Capitalizing on a robust infrastructure, proven track record and a veteran sales team, Freestyle Digital Media is a true home for independent films.

In 2016, Allen Media Group purchased The Grio, a highly-rated digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets. The Grio features aggregated and original video packages, news articles and opinion pieces on topics that include breaking news, politics, health, business and entertainment. Originally launched in 2009, the platform was then purchased by NBC News in 2010. The digital platform remains focused on curating exciting digital content and currently has more than 100 million annual visitors.

For more information, visit:
www.entertainmentstudios.com

SOURCE Entertainment Studios, Inc.