Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios, Inc. has announced that its cable television networks COMEDY.TV and JUSTICECENTRAL.TV will be available on the new streaming service, DirecTV Now, when it launches later this month.
The news comes a year after Allen’s Entertainment Studios settled a racial discrimination lawsuit with AT&T (parent company of DirecTV), that was filed in December 2014, securing distribution for its seven cable channels across DirecTV and U-verse.
The AT&T deal greatly enhances the distribution base and value of Allen’s entertainment channels.
Allen has a similar racial discrimination lawsuit pending against Comcast and Time Warner Cable.
— Comedy.TV – A television network dedicated to comedy, features a mix of live concert performances, talk and variety shows, sitcoms and movies. (www.Comedy.tv)
— JusticeCentral.TV – A television network dedicated to court shows, legal news, and the world’s biggest trials. (www.JusticeCentral.tv)
“We value our continued and expanding relationship with AT&T,” said Byron Allen, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Entertainment Studios. “DirecTV Now customers will be able to enjoy watching our networks wherever they are at their convenience.”
DirecTV Now will offer customers access to more than 100 channels, including live and on-demand programming from top networks, as well as premium add-on options. Customers will be able to access and stream the service over a wired or wireless Internet connection using a variety of connected devices without requiring additional hardware, satellites, annual contracts or credit checks.
Chairman and CEO Byron Allen founded Entertainment Studios in 1993. Headquartered in Los Angeles, it has offices in New York, Chicago, Denver, and Raleigh. Entertainment Studios owns seven 24-hour HD cable television networks serving nearly 80 million subscribers: PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, and JUSTICECENTRAL.TV. The company also produces, distributes, and sells advertising for 40 television programs, making it one of the largest independent producers/distributors of first-run syndicated television programming for broadcast television stations. With a library of over 5,000 hours of owned content across multiple genres, Entertainment Studios provides video content to broadcast television stations, cable television networks, mobile devices, multimedia platforms, and the World Wide Web. Our mission is to provide excellent programming to our viewers, online users, and Fortune 500 advertising partners.
In 2015, Entertainment Studios purchased Freestyle Releasing, a full-service, theatrical motion picture distribution company that specializes in representing independent companies, major studios, and mini-major studios for the purpose of exhibiting their films as first-class theatrical releases. In 2016, Entertainment Studios purchased TheGrio, a digital video-centric news community platform devoted to providing African-Americans with compelling stories and perspectives currently underrepresented in existing national news outlets.
