1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:08,640 This is the RBR TV BR in focus podcast. Here's your host radio 2 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,720 and television business report editor in chief Adam R Jacobson. 3 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:18,400 Hello and welcome to the podcast presented by dot FM streaming 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,760 social podcast or broadcast get a dot FM domain name heading 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:27,160 over to get dot FM today. And today we have a very special NAB 6 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:33,200 show 2022 edition of the podcast. On Wednesday, April 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:38,960 27. We were privileged to be in the audience at the broadcasters 8 00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:43,000 foundation of America leadership awards. There were five 9 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:47,680 recipients of the awards. They include Pierre bouvard, the 10 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:51,480 chief insights officer for cumulus media and Westwood one, 11 00:00:51,480 --> 00:00:57,200 Ralph Oakley, the retired president and CEO of Quincy 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:01,640 media incorporated Christine travelini, president of cats 13 00:01:01,640 --> 00:01:05,840 radio group, retired NAB executive vice president of 14 00:01:05,840 --> 00:01:10,880 communications, Dennis Wharton, and one Byron Allen. Byron 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,600 Allen has made a name for himself over 40 years and today 16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,120 is chairman CEO of Allen media group and entertainment 17 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:22,960 studios. His goal is to be the number one media group in 18 00:01:22,960 --> 00:01:27,080 America. In accepting the broadcasters foundation of 19 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:31,000 America leadership award, Allen gave a riveting speech. We're 20 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,040 pleased to share it with you in its entirety at this time. 21 00:01:35,480 --> 00:01:40,680 First of all, thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. This 22 00:01:40,680 --> 00:01:46,280 means the world to me because listen, I have pretty much 23 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:51,760 grown up admiring so many of you. You are excellent at what 24 00:01:51,760 --> 00:02:04,680 you do. I'm just proud to be in your company. So thank you. I 25 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:09,520 am so humble because you know, I come from extremely humble 26 00:02:09,520 --> 00:02:15,320 beginnings. I am really fortunate to be an American to 27 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:20,840 be born in this country. This country isn't perfect. But this 28 00:02:20,840 --> 00:02:32,960 country is the best country on planet Earth. And I am so so 29 00:02:33,280 --> 00:02:38,920 blessed. I cannot begin to tell you how blessed I am. You know, 30 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:42,800 Andy Temple said to me last night he goes, Do you really 31 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,280 understand? I'm like, I can't even if I start to think about 32 00:02:46,280 --> 00:02:51,680 it, I begin to cry. So I don't want to like I just shut it 33 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:58,240 down. I just turned 61 years old. So I know I live 21. I know. 34 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:03,440 So I tell everybody I'm a 61 year old overnight sensation. 35 00:03:05,240 --> 00:03:10,760 But when I think about, you know, my mother, who got 36 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:16,400 pregnant with me when she was 16 and had me 17 days after her 37 00:03:16,400 --> 00:03:21,120 17th birthday. And when you look at that little black teenage 38 00:03:21,120 --> 00:03:27,400 girl, having a black baby in April of 61. Nobody in this 39 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:34,720 county Vegas is betting on us. But God not only gave me a 40 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:39,800 beautiful mother, but a brilliant mother. And in April 41 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,920 of 61, when they assassinated Mark Luther King, she and I 42 00:03:44,960 --> 00:03:50,360 decided to go from Detroit, where we were to Los Angeles to 43 00:03:50,360 --> 00:03:54,800 get away from the city being burned up from the riots. And we 44 00:03:54,800 --> 00:03:58,120 ended up not just going for a two week vacation, we ended up 45 00:03:58,120 --> 00:04:02,880 staying and we ended up staying in LA and my mother, not only 46 00:04:02,880 --> 00:04:06,440 brilliant ended up getting into UCLA and ended up getting her 47 00:04:06,440 --> 00:04:11,320 master's degree in cinema TV production. And from that, it 48 00:04:11,320 --> 00:04:16,400 changed our life forever. And I would go with my mom to work 49 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:20,240 because she got a job working in NBC as a tour guide. And then 50 00:04:20,240 --> 00:04:23,120 later in publicity and marketing. And that's when I sat 51 00:04:23,120 --> 00:04:26,160 in the means waiting for my mother to get off work. And I 52 00:04:26,160 --> 00:04:30,120 watched Johnny Carson do the Tonight Show and Flip Wilson do 53 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:33,160 his show and Red Fox do his show and Bob Hope do his 54 00:04:33,160 --> 00:04:35,600 specials. And I thought what a wonderful way to build your 55 00:04:35,600 --> 00:04:39,200 life, making people laugh and making television and being 56 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:42,000 amongst you. So thank you. I really appreciate it. 57 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,240 And once I discovered what I wanted to do with my life, I 58 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:55,320 realized there's more I can do. And I was always impacted by the 59 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,600 assassination of Martin Luther King. So I got to know his 60 00:04:57,600 --> 00:05:01,280 widow, Coretta Scott Kent, I consider her the true queen of 61 00:05:01,280 --> 00:05:05,920 America. And I got to know her and she taught me so much. And 62 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,040 she said to me, you know, Byron, as black people in this country, 63 00:05:09,040 --> 00:05:14,080 we've had four major challenges. Number one, end slavery. 64 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:22,120 Number two, end Jim Crow. And number three, achieve civil 65 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:26,520 rights, which I was not born with. And then she choked up. 66 00:05:26,520 --> 00:05:31,360 And she said, and number four, the real reason I killed Martin 67 00:05:31,360 --> 00:05:36,000 Martin, achieve economic inclusion. She said, Byron, 68 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,960 they didn't kill Martin Martin over the speech, I have a dream. 69 00:05:40,680 --> 00:05:43,480 They killed him over the speech he gave in February of 68 at 70 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:48,040 Stanford University, the other America. And in that speech, he 71 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:52,440 said, there are two Americas. One America has access to 72 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:57,920 opportunity, education, and economic inclusion. Two 73 00:05:57,920 --> 00:06:04,960 Americas will not survive. We must achieve one America. And 74 00:06:04,960 --> 00:06:10,040 from that moment on, she changed my perspective. And I decided 75 00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:15,560 that I would dedicate my life to achieving that vision. One 76 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:19,200 America. And from that moment on, I said, I will build the 77 00:06:19,200 --> 00:06:23,760 world's biggest media company. And that company will effectuate 78 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:28,080 good for the greater change of America for America. One 79 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:32,520 America. What does that look like for me? For us? I call it 80 00:06:32,520 --> 00:06:37,600 the five E's, which this amazing organization is very much a 81 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,120 part of it. Number one, education. You know what it 82 00:06:42,120 --> 00:06:48,000 means. Change my life forever. Number two, equal justice. 83 00:06:48,000 --> 00:06:52,920 If we don't have it, you see the civil unrest. Number three, 84 00:06:52,920 --> 00:06:58,560 economic inclusion is the key to ending incarceration in this 85 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,840 country. Number four, environmental protection. It's 86 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:07,080 the reason I bought the Weather Channel. It's our greatest 87 00:07:07,080 --> 00:07:13,360 threat, climate change. And number five, empathy. We have to 88 00:07:13,360 --> 00:07:17,320 stop acting like we don't see the flu in supermarkets. We have 89 00:07:17,320 --> 00:07:22,000 to stop acting like we don't see the flu in secure. We don't see 90 00:07:22,000 --> 00:07:26,760 the mentally ill and we don't see the homeless. Those five 91 00:07:26,760 --> 00:07:32,240 E's. If we achieve those five E's, we can achieve one America 92 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,120 and then we can achieve one planet and we can achieve 93 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:40,280 heaven right here on earth. That's what I'm doing every day. 94 00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:43,640 Now the President of the United States is not the most powerful 95 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:48,480 person in the world. Are the people in this room. You. Because 96 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:53,360 you control media. You control the flow of information. You 97 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,400 control images. You control the news. You control what we see, 98 00:07:57,400 --> 00:08:03,560 what we think. You are the real champions of America. What you 99 00:08:03,560 --> 00:08:08,960 do matters. You are the pillar of this country. And I'm so 100 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:13,720 honored to be amongst you and thank you. I appreciate you. 101 00:08:13,720 --> 00:08:18,480 Thank you and congratulations to the fellow honorees. Thank you. 102 00:08:18,480 --> 00:08:42,360 That was Byron Allen, the chairman and CEO of Allen Media 103 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:45,840 Group and Entertainment Studios receiving the Broadcasters 104 00:08:45,840 --> 00:08:49,760 Foundation of America Leadership Award on Wednesday, April 27th. 105 00:08:49,760 --> 00:08:52,160 And with that, we want to thank you for listening to this very 106 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,560 special edition of the In Focus Podcast. It was sponsored by 107 00:08:55,560 --> 00:08:59,520 .fm streaming social podcast or broadcast. Get a.fm domain 108 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:03,040 name by heading over to get.fm today. From Las Vegas, Nevada 109 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:08,960 and the closing of the 2022 NAB show, I'm Adam R. Jacobson for 110 00:09:08,960 --> 00:09:18,160 the In Focus Podcast. Have a great day.