Byron Allen Acquires 52% Stake in BuzzFeed in $120M Deal to Launch Free TV Super App

Byron Allen, founder of Allen Media Group (AMG), has announced a major strategic move to expand his media empire by acquiring a 52% stake in BuzzFeed for $120 million. The deal, announced on Monday, includes a $20 million upfront payment with the remaining $100 million structured as a promissory note due in five years.

This acquisition comes at a critical time for BuzzFeed, which has seen its shares plummet by 96.6% over the past five years. In March, the company revealed it was exploring strategic options to address financial challenges stemming from "legacy commitments that are burdening the business."

Allen’s vision for BuzzFeed includes transforming the platform into a free "super app" that integrates BuzzFeed and Huffington Post with AMG’s LocalNow, a service aggregating local news, weather, sports, traffic, and over 30,000 movies and TV shows, along with nearly 1,000 FAST channels.

"BuzzFeed and Huffington Post are phenomenal brands with millions of dedicated users, but they don’t have this type of streaming, this type of super hyper-localization. I thought, if we put the two together, we have something special."

Allen also plans to leverage the acquisition to cross-promote AMG’s existing content, such as Comics Unleashed, which is set to replace The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in its time slot starting next week. Additionally, he intends to "invest aggressively" in podcasts and utilize AI to enhance content aggregation, with BuzzFeed’s outgoing CEO Jonah Peretti leading the initiative as the new AI president.

"He’s going to be out there innovating and implementing all of the ways we can use AI and, obviously, it’s infinite as to what we can do. We’re able to aggregate and curate faster and better. Using proprietary software and AI, LocalNow is able to upload 500,000 pieces of content per day."

Despite the focus on AI, Allen emphasized his commitment to human-made content. He suggested the possibility of BuzzFeed and HuffPost developing a syndicated show for cable television, stating:

"HuffPost has a huge opportunity to really go out there and grow its team. I’m a believer and I would be a supporter of that. Just show us the talent and let’s go. I love human journalism and using software and AI to help support us as we grow that space."

Allen also proposed a revenue-sharing model with creators, drawing parallels to YouTube. He envisions a future where platforms like BuzzFeed, HuffPost, LocalNow, and TheGrio serve as hubs for creators to monetize their content alongside advertisers.

"There will be tons of content creator billionaires and BuzzFeed, HuffPost, LocalNow and the Grio will just be platforms where creators can place their content and monetize it along with YouTube. We will also be a great place for advertisers to have