Allen Media owner Byron Allen Media will announce a big shake-up at the top of the corporate structure later today.

Out the door will be executives Bob Prather and Andy Fisher.

Allen bought 11 stations from Prather’s Heartland Media in 2019, and he and Fisher stayed on after the sale.

Fisher served as Chief Operating Officer at Allen Media.

He sent out an internal email to the staff in an effort to get ahead of the news that Allen will be announcing later today.

FTVLive obtained a copy of that email.

From: Andy Fisher
Date: April 16, 2023 at 7:18:52 PM EDT
To: AMB_Global
Subject: Thank you

I wanted you to know of an important development which will be formally announced tomorrow.  Bob Prather and I are leaving Allen Media at the end of April.

 A bit over 3 years ago, Byron asked Bob and me to join his company to run the 9 stations he purchased from Bob, and subsequently, the two he had previously acquired.  Since then, we’ve had a pandemic, a broadcast recession, a nationwide upheaval as people thought about their personal priorities, an explosion of cord cutting and streaming.  The size of the company more than doubled through 4 additional transactions.

 You all worked tirelessly to keep your colleagues safe and your community service high.  Local news is the critical foundation for local television Big 4 affiliate success. We honed our strategies and tactics.  We expanded our news services.  Many of your stations grew viewership; more than half now lead the bellwether afternoon news block. And all of this happened because of your hard work.

 The revenue effort has been similarly successful.  We’ve improved our local direct sales, the financial heartbeat of local television.  The sales teams’ aggressive work in those markets with political revenues earned spectacular results; those of us in the business know that process is an art form in itself.  Our digital revenues are rising substantially faster than industry averages.

 We’ve had, In two words, incredible success.  

 On a personal note, I am very grateful for the friendship and professionalism of this group. We joined together 1200 people from multiple business cultures and style and worked hard to unify into one company.  

 I will miss working day to day with you but know that as broadcasters we will continue to cross paths. 

Byron will be announcing the new structure tomorrow. 

Sincerely,
Andy