Less than two weeks after Allen Media Group closed on the sale of a group of broadcast television stations to Gray Media for $171 million, part of a strategic shift to invest in non-broadcast opportunities by comedian turned media mogul Byron Allen, his Allen Family Digital LLC has reached an agreement to acquire the parent of internet content hubs HuffPost and Tasty — BuzzFeed Inc.
With an AMG representative declining further comment when contacted early Tuesday by RBR+TVBR, the company spokesperson pointed to a late Monday announcement confirming the transaction agreement.
Terms call for BuzzFeed to accept a majority investment from Allen Family Digital LLC, as BuzzFeed Founder and CEO Jonah Peretti will be succeeded by Mr. Allen, who will assume the role of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer upon closing. Peretti will remain involved by taking a newly created role as President of BuzzFeed AI.
Financial terms see Allen Family Digital acquiring 40 million shares of “BZFD,” which trades on Nasdaq and was priced at $1.44 per share as of 11am Eastern on Tuesday — up 72 cents on the report. Allen is purchasing the BuzzFeed shares at an ultrapremium price of $3.00 per share, for a total purchase price of $120 million. BZFD hasn’t been near $3 since early December 2024.
While AMG received more than $100 million from Gray Media, Allen Family Digital will be paying $20 million in cash at closing to obtain BuzzFeed. The remaining $100 million will be tied to a Promissory Note at 5% interest, spread over 60 months.
The transaction is currently expected to close by the end of this month.
The news that Byron Allen is acquiring BuzzFeed came as it shared rather downbeat Q1 2026 fiscal results: advertising revenue declined 19.8% year-over-year to $17.1 million, as a 69% gain in content revenue to $7.5 million offset that dip somewhat. The net loss of $15.1 million was wider than a $12.5 million net loss seen in Q1 2025.
The market cap for BuzzFeed increased to $54.4 million based on the Tuesday morning stock surge, from $27 million as of Monday evening.
“Byron Allen has built one of the world’s largest media companies and is one of the most accomplished media entrepreneurs in the industry, having spent 30-plus years transforming distribution infrastructure, identifying strategic assets, and scaling them into something much greater,” said Peretti. “Byron’s vision, operational experience, and long-term commitment to premium content makes him exceptionally well-positioned to lead BuzzFeed and HuffPost into our next phase of growth. And personally, I’m thrilled Byron is taking over ‘The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s’ time slot, and highly confident that his relationships with talent will bring some incredible stars to the BuzzFeed platform.”
‘SIGNIFICANT CHANGES’ AND COST-CUTTING COMING NOW
To prepare for his arrival, we are planning to make significant changes, including cost reductions and setting up BuzzFeed Studios (including vertical micro-dramas, animation, digital video, and premium studio including feature films) and Tasty as a new independent entity.
“This investment in our business and Byron’s management roles will provide liquidity and operational focus to BuzzFeed Inc.,” Peretti continued.
Commenting on his new role as President of BuzzFeed AI, Peretti said, “After 20 years as CEO of BuzzFeed, I’m excited to switch my focus to a more hands-on role developing products and technology that are only possible because of recent advances in AI. I’m convinced that AI will fundamentally transform the media industry and empower creative people to build in new ways, and I believe the opportunity is enormous.”
Mr. Allen called Peretti “a great visionary” who has done “a phenomenal job.”
He continued, “BuzzFeed and HuffPost have become two iconic global digital media brands with powerful audience reach and strong cultural importance. Our vision is to build on the iconic foundation of BuzzFeed and HuffPost by expanding into free-streaming video, audio and user-generated content. As of this moment, with the power of AI, BuzzFeed is officially chasing YouTube to become another premiere free video streaming service.”
Peretti co-founded BuzzFeed in 2006 and has served as the Company’s Chief Executive Officer since its founding. Under his leadership, BuzzFeed became one of the defining digital media brands of a generation, pioneering social distribution, viral content, and AI-assisted publishing.
“In his new role as President of BuzzFeed AI, Peretti will bring his strategic focus to applied AI research, product innovation, and the development of new technology-driven media formats,” BuzzFeed said.
Byron Allen is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group which he founded in 1993 and is headquartered in Los Angeles. Allen owns 13 ABC, CBS or NBC network affiliate broadcast television stations in 11 U.S. markets and 10 digital multicast TV networks including PETS.TV, COMEDY.TV, RECIPE.TV, CARS.TV, ES.TV, MYDESTINATION.TV, JUSTICECENTRAL.TV, THEGRIO TELEVISION NETWORK, and HBCU GO. Allen also owns The Weather Channel and the Local Now free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) channel platform as well as Entertainment Studios. That’s home to such programming as Comics Unleashed with Byron Allen and Funny You Should Ask, which are set to debut as late-night programming on CBS next week following the conclusion of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. A premiere party is scheduled for May 20 at Lucky Strike Beverly Hills.
