American businessman, comedian, and television producer Byron Allen is transitioning his broadcast television network Light TV to The Grio.TV television on January 15, 2021, Deadline reports.
The rebranded television network will feature Black American-centered content that will be accessible to more than 100 million households in America, the outlet reports. It will also air over not just on television stations, but cable, digital streaming, and satellite. The Grio.Tv is set to feature dramas, comedies, feature films, and more.
Byron Allen bought The Grio.com back in 2016 when it only had one million monthly users. Today, the website has over 10.5 million active monthly users. Over the past two years, Allen’s the Allen Media Group has invested over one billion dollars in acquiring media assets, including The Weather Channel, and 16 ABC-NBC-CBS-FOX broadcast network affiliate television stations around the country, Deadline reports.
“The Grio, which means ‘storyteller’ in Africa – is the first platform to offer an online digital news destination, a free streaming app providing local news, weather, sports, traffic, and entertainment content geofenced to the user’s zip code, and an over-the-air broadcast television network,” said Allen. “TheGrio.TV is especially important to me, as it will both serve and uplift all viewers. TheGrio.TV is the first and only 100 percent African American-owned and targeted broadcast television network and free digital platform – making us truly authentic, without being filtered or controlled by others outside of the community.”
