New York —
Byron Allen got his first big break as a teenage comedian on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show.” Nearly five decades later, he is returning to late night not just as a comic, but as a billionaire media mogul with a sprawling and unconventional empire.
Allen owns The Weather Channel. He recently bought a controlling stake in BuzzFeed. He has made splashy, unsuccessful bids for Paramount, ABC, BET and Tegna. He has even expressed interest in buying CNN.
On Friday, the comic-turned-media mogul is taking over CBS’s 11:35 pm slot, the storied perch once occupied by David Letterman and Stephen Colbert, with “Comics Unleashed,” a low-cost, politics-free comedy show that reflects both his roots as a stand-up and the business model that made him one of the most unusual figures in American media.
The move marks a dramatic shift for CBS late night: from Colbert’s topical, Trump-era comedy to a syndicated-style comedy format built around quick jokes and minimal controversy.
