Byron Allen's Outcry: Black-Owned Media Must Matter With Mad Ave

From that industry39s vantage point Blackowned media quotdoes not existquot Allen declared at the outset of a special virtual presentation last week arranged by Cynopsis Media quotDone in by systematic racism on Madison Avenue It39s simplequot he continued quotEven today you go into these allwhite agencies and it39s bad Many are tonedeafamp8230completely tonedeafquotAllen whose Entertainment Studios and Allen Media Group organizations generate programming in one case and broadcast station ownership in the other respectively considers lack of diversity among advertising agencies one major barrier to Blackowned media success in the marketplace Another is the absence of robust ongoing budgets for Blackowned media among both advertisers and ad agencies compared to robust ongoing budgets for Blacktargeted mediaquotThere39s a scenario today where Madison Ave doesn39t have a bucket that includes Blackowned mediaquot Allen said quotNow Is the time to hold them accountable That39s the only way to get things done There is no economic inclusion It doesn39t exist This is the epitome of systematic racismquotOver the last few decades Entertainment Studios has become one of the major syndicated series players with more than 60 series running on both broadcast stations and cable networks Allen39s programming enterprise also operates a collection of cable networks led by The Weather Channel as well as Local Now distributed through smart TV sets and devices A 24hour Spanishlanguage offshoot of The Weather Channel is planned for 2021 as well as turning Up North a SeriesFestwinning pilot in 2017 into a series produced in New YorkStarting with four TV stations purchased last summer Allen Media Group currently owns 15 stations all CBS NBC ABC or Fox affiliates in 12 markets and recently reached an agreement to buy a station in Honolulu Allen Media Group is also a partner with Sinclair one of the largest TV station group owners in more than 20 regional sports networks previously operated by Foxamp160 Recent published interviews with Byron Allen feature his intent to spend 10 billion over the next two years to increase his portfolio of broadcast stationsEntertainment Studios is moving ahead because a growing number of individual advertisers create then fill the bucket Allen wants the ad industry to adopt as standard practice for minorityowned media Elements of this bucket multiyear advertising commitments multiplatform combo spending and community outreach initiativesJohnson and Johnson and Pepsi are two sponsors who play fair and consistently in that manner according to Allen CocaCola is not quotThey do not spend one nickel on me quotAllen added quotThey39re horriblequotWith the buying power of AfricanAmericans and other communities of color rising substantially year after year quotit39s in your interest to open up opportunities and new platforms to foster competition in voicesquot Allen maintained quotLet39s be longterm partners We39re in the community all over the culture and ingrainedquotquotI don39t want a handout I want partnership Let39s do business Get to the table Stop with the excuses and charities Spend 100 million or 10 percent of your budget on Blackowned media If you39re not saying that you39re not involvedquotOne recommendation from Allen instead of hiring chief diversity officers ad agencies should hire chief investment officers with no hesitancy to make investments in minorityowned media Another streamline the process under which minorityowned media investments get greenlights by reducing what he terms quotanalysis paralysisquot or far too much time and energy on researchquotI want you to support Blacktargeted servicesquot Allen pointed out quotAnd I want you to support Blackowned media equally or morequotIn the near future Entertainment Studios will launch a monthly progress report on landing business from corporate America naming names on which advertisers and ad agencies are stepping up to the plate on behalf of Blackowned media or not That report will be presented through TheGrio Entertainment Studios39 digitallydistributed news and information service If need be Allen39s organization may pursue legal action similar to lawsuits against Comcast and other cable operator for carriage of ES39 cable networksAllen is rooting for Black News Channel the 247 TV network launched this past winter and minorityowned services about to get underway or in development to be direct beneficiaries of his crusadequotAre we cool with one service Hell noquot he understands quotWe need one America with access to opportunity and market share We need more intellectual capital to compete globally Bigger is much better Invest invest investamp8230let39s get it donequotAlso read Phil McKenzie39s commentary on Byron Allen39s takedown of corporate AmericaClick the social buttons to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Byron Allen's Outcry: Black-Owned Media Must Matter With Mad Ave

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