TheGrio
Black culture and news digital brand within Allen Media Group, with linear cable channel.
Last refreshed: 17 May 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
How does TheGrio fit into Byron Allen's plan to reshape digital media with BuzzFeed?
Timeline for TheGrio
Mentioned in: Allen buys BuzzFeed for the AI bet
Media's AI Pivot- What is TheGrio and who owns it?
- TheGrio is a digital and cable news brand focused on Black American culture and politics, owned by Byron Allen's Allen Media Group since 2016. It was originally founded by NBC News in 2009.Source: Wikipedia / Allen Media Group
- Does TheGrio have a TV channel as well as a website?
- Yes. TheGrio operates both a digital news platform and a 24-hour cable television channel, giving it both streaming and linear TV distribution.Source: Allen Media Group
Background
TheGrio is a digital news and entertainment brand dedicated to Black American culture, news and politics, and one of the flagship properties within Byron Allen's Allen Media Group portfolio. Founded in 2009 as an NBC News-backed video-centric platform, TheGrio was sold to Allen Media in 2016 and has since expanded into a cable news network with linear channel distribution alongside its digital presence. It covers US politics, culture, sports and entertainment with an explicit focus on Black American perspectives.
Within Allen Media Group, TheGrio occupies a strategically distinct position from the broadcast affiliate stations: it is a content brand with loyal audience identity rather than a distributor. Allen has positioned TheGrio as one of the company's culturally significant properties alongside The Weather Channel, underscoring the group's breadth beyond pure broadcast infrastructure. TheGrio operates a 24-hour cable channel in addition to its digital platform.
TheGrio's relevance to the BuzzFeed acquisition lies in Allen's broader pattern: buying audience-first brands — whether weather data, Black cultural news, or viral digital media — and integrating them across a distribution infrastructure he controls. As Allen plans to expand BuzzFeed into streaming video, TheGrio's content production experience may inform the model.
