Byron Allen Reiterates Sincere Interest in ABC Once Disney is Ready to Part Ways with Channel

Disney has owned the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) for 27 years now. Whether that relationship continues to the 30-year mark or not seems in serious doubt nowadays, as Disney has signaled it’s willing to sell the channel and its other linear assets to funnel its TV offerings more actively through its streaming platforms Disney+ and Hulu.

• Disney is looking to unload essentially all linear TV channels besides ESPN.
• Byron Allen, founder of Allen Media Group has shown repeated interest in the channel.
• Nexstar has also reportedly discussed acquiring ABC from Disney.

Disney may not be ready to move forward with a sale of ABC just yet, but when it is it will find one eager partner already seated at the negotiating table: Byron Allen. Allen, whose Allen Media Group controls The Weather Channel, has been vocal about his desire to buy ABC, and according to Variety he doubled down on that position in comments made at the UCLA Department of Neurosurgery’s Visionary Ball held last week.

‘Like a Lion Chasing a Gazelle’

Allen told Variety that his position has not changed since he entered a $10 billion bid for ABC, FX and the National Geographic channels in September. Disney is still not ready to part with the channel yet, but when it is, Allen will be there with his checkbook in hand.

“I think ABC’s a real possibility. They say they’re not ready,” Allen said at the Visionary Ball last Wednesday. “When they’re ready I’m going to chase it down like a lion chases down a gazelle.”

Allen also says that he may pare down his request, leaving the cable channels in his original offer behind. But ABC is an essential piece of any deal that could arise between Disney and Allen Media Group.

“The one thing that needs to be in the shopping cart to keep my interest is ABC and the ABC owned-and-operated stations — and I wouldn’t mind if they threw in ‘Kelly and Mark’ and ‘Tamron Hall,’” Allen told Variety.

Who Else Could Be Interested?

Allen Media Group is not likely to be the only party at the table when the bidding commences for ABC. Disney has also reportedly discussed selling the channel to Nexstar, which owns more local affiliates of broadcast channels like ABC, CBS, and Fox than any other station owner in the country. There would be some serious regulatory hurdles to clear before that sale could be possible, however.

Indeed, some analysts are afraid regulatory issues and price concerns could make ABC difficult to sell for Disney. Some think the asking price will be around $7 or $8 billion just for that channel alone, and it may be hard to find buyers at that rate. A big infusion of cash in that vein will be necessary if Disney wants to carry forward with plans to shift ESPN to a streaming format that doesn’t require a cable or satellite subscription. The company will also have to pony up a minimum of $9 billion to complete the purchase of Hulu from Comcast; negotiations to arrive at an exact figure for Comcast’s 33% stake in Hulu began in September, but the two sides have not agreed yet.

For now, moguls like Allen will have to keep their eyes open and make sure their phones are charged. When the call comes through from Disney that it’s ready to sell ABC, negotiations could proceed quickly, even if some Wall Street observers think the channel may be a difficult asset to divest. There are clearly interested parties out there if the right price can be reached.