BYRON ALLEN'S ALLEN MEDIA GROUP HIRES OLIVER DE LA HOZ AS CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER OF ALLEN MEDIA DIGITAL

Industry Veteran to Oversee All Accounting and Finance for Allen Media Digital Division Encompassing Allen Media Group's Free-Streaming Platforms Local Now, TheGrio Streaming App, HBCU GO, The Weather Channel Streaming App, The Weather Channel en Español and Sports.TV

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Byron Allen's Allen Media Group (AMG) proudly announces the hiring of Oliver De La Hoz to the new position of Chief Financial Officer of Allen Media Digital. In this new position, De La Hoz will oversee all financial planning, accounting, and business operations for AMG's Allen Media Digital division – which encompasses the AMG free-streaming AVOD services Local Now, TheGrio Streaming App, HBCU GO, The Weather Channel Streaming App, The Weather Channel en Español, and the recently-launched Sports.TV platform. De La Hoz will be based at the AMG headquarters in Los Angeles.

De La Hoz comes to AMG from his recent position as Chief Financial Officer of ITV Studios U.S. (ITV). During his time at ITV, he helped build and manage the scripted and unscripted businesses and oversaw the full accounting and finance functions. Prior to ITV, De La Hoz was based in New York City as a Director in PwC's Financial Due Diligence (mergers & acquisitions) practice with a focus on media and entertainment. De La Hoz has more than two decades of experience in financial accounting, mergers & acquisitions, integration, and operations within the entertainment and media industry, including television and film production, broadcasting, distribution, cable, music, and video games. De La Hoz graduated from Georgetown University with a dual Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting and Finance, and is also a Certified Public Accountant.

Over the past year, Allen Media Digital launched several new products including The Weather Channel Streaming App--a direct-to-consumer product providing users the ability to subscribe and watch The Weather Channel television network, The Weather Channel en Español Streaming App--the first 24/7 Spanish-language free-streaming weather news network in the United States, the Sports.TV free-streaming service--which provides the most number of free sports channels found anywhere, TheGrio Streaming App--which expands the number one digital news/entertainment platform for Black America into a free-streaming service, as well as HBCU GO--the cultural lifestyle destination and leading sports media provider that embraces and represents the voice and cultural experiences at Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Earlier this year, AMG announced a long-term, comprehensive strategic partnership with Google that leverages Google's technology to further bolster all Allen Media Digital platforms and other Allen Media Digital streaming services currently in development.

"Oliver De La Hoz is a great addition to the Allen Media Group family as Chief Financial Officer for Allen Media Digital, where he will be valuable in overseeing all financial planning, accounting, and business operations for the division," said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. "Oliver will now play a vital role in helping Allen Media Group continue to grow our digital streaming platforms and initiatives worldwide."

"The media business continues to evolve as technology changes the way we watch content and engage audiences," said Oliver De La Hoz, Chief Financial Officer of Allen Media Digital. "I am excited to join Allen Media Group and look forward to continuing the rapid growth and scale of our digital platforms."

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 Charleston, SC. Allen Media Group owns 27 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX network affiliate broadcast television stations in 21 U.S. markets and twelve 24-hour HD television networks serving nearly 220 million subscribers: THE WEATHER CHANNEL, THE WEATHER CHANNEL EN ESPAÑOL, PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO TELEVISION NETWORK, THIS TV, and PATTRN. Allen Media Group also owns the streaming platforms HBCU GO, SPORTS.TV, THEGRIO, THE WEATHER CHANNEL STREAMING APP, COMEDY.TV and LOCAL NOW--the free-streaming AVOD service 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 68 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. 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, and multimedia digital. 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.

SOURCE Allen Media Group