Byron Allen Unleashed

Big moments in an even bigger player’s TV career

Because Byron Allen grew up as a pre-teen in the halls of NBC in Burbank, waiting for his mother to finish working in the network’s publicity department, the born entrepreneur’s after-school program was watching tapings of “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,” “Sanford & Son,” “The Flip Wilson Show,” Bob Hope specials and hours and hours of local news.

Allen was quickly smitten, especially with Carson and the comedians he saw on his stage. So, it was no surprise that Allen started to pursue his own stand-up comedy at age ƒ„. He was hired as a joke writer by Jimmie Walker, of “Good Times” fame, at the same age.

Allen still holds the record as the youngest stand-up comedian to appear on “The Tonight Show” during the Carson era, at all of ƒ‡ years old.

Here’s a look at other key moments in Allen’s career on screen and in the boardroom.

1979

Allen makes the first of his four appearances on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.” The next day, he is offered the job to co-host “Real People,” the NBC unscripted series that was a forerunner of reality TV.

1989

“The Byron Allen Show” latenight syndicated series premieres nationwide. The nightly series runs through ƒ¤¤¥.

1993

Allen launches his Entertainment Studios banner at his kitchen table in Los Angeles. The company’s first syndicated series is “Entertainers With Byron Allen.”

2006

Entertainment Studios launches “Comics Unleashed,” a comedy roundtable talk show hosted by Allen.

2009

Entertainment Studios launches six niche channels in partnership with Verizon’s fledgling Fios platform: Cars.tv, Comedy.tv, Es.tv, Justice.tv, Pets.tv and Recipe.tv.

2015

February: Allen files a civil-rights lawsuit in federal court against Comcast Corp., accusing the cable giant of discriminating against his company by refusing to carry his cable channels.

The suit seeks $20 billion in damages. Allen files similar lawsuits against AT&T and Charter Communications.

October: Entertainment Studios moves into film distribution with the acquisition of Freestyle Releasing, which is renamed Entertainment Studios Motion Pictures.

December: AT&T and Allen settle discrimination suit. AT&T’S Directv adds seven Entertainment Studios channels to its lineup.

2018

Entertainment Studios surprises the TV industry with its $•–– million purchase of the Weather Channel.

2019

May: Allen joins with Sinclair Broadcast Group and other investors to acquire 21 regional sports channels from Disney for $10.6 billion.

July: Allen’s Allen Media Group acquires four TV stations in Indiana and Louisiana from Bayou City Broadcasting for $165 million.

October: Allen Media Group buys 11 stations from USA Television for $290 million

November: The U.S. Supreme Court hears oral arguments on Allen’s racial discrimination suit against Comcast.

2020

March: The Supreme Court rules in Comcast’s favor and sends Allen’s case back to a federal appellate court.

June: Allen and Comcast settle the racial discrimination suit. Comcast picks up three Entertainment Studios channels and extends its distribution deal for the Weather Channel.

2021

March: Allen spearheads the launch of upfront events designed to bring more mainstream advertising dollars to Black-owned media outlets.

April: Allen Media buys seven TV stations from Gray Television for $•‡– million.

Allen relaxes on the set of “Funny You Should Ask,” which premiered in ‡ˆ ‰.

Allen (bottom le) starred alongside Bill Raerty, John Barbour, Skip Stephenson and Sarah Purcell in “Real People.”

Byron Allen made his rst appearance on “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” at age .