The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Company buys Weather Channel
Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios acquires Atlanta-based network.
Byron Allen’s privately held Entertainment Studios has purchased Atlanta-based the Weather Channel.
The dollar amount was not disclosed though a source told The Hollywood Reporter it was in the $300 million range.
The cable network has been owned by two private equity firms — Bain Capital and the Blackstone Group — and media giant NBC/ Universal since 2008. It was purchased at the time for an estimated $3.5 billion.
The owners in 2015 sold off the Weather Channel’s digital assets to IBM for an estimated $2 billion.
This means the current purchase doesn’t include weather.com or the Weather Channel app. The cable network now licenses the Weather Channel brand from IBM.
NBC/Universal never chose to absorb the Weather Channel into its existing family of networks, which include Bravo, CNBC, MSNBC and Syfy.
“I think it shows the diminished value of the Weather Channel, which used to be a staple and indispensable for any cable operator,” said Phil Swann, who runs tvanswerman.com. “It’s not anymore.”
Instead, the Weather Channel will be part of an independent production company started in 1993 by Allen, a former entertainer who decided to focus on building wealth behind the scenes in Hollywood. His networks include automotive. tv, pets.tv and Justice Central.
This will be by far Allen’s biggest network brand name.
“The Weather Channel is one of the most trusted and extremely important cable networks, with information vitally important to the safety and protection of our lives,” Allen said in a press release. “We welcome the Weather Channel, which has been seen in American households for nearly four decades, to our cable television networks division. The acquisition of the Weather Channel is strategic, as we begin our process of investing billions of dollars over the next five years to acquire some of the best media assets around the world.”