Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group announced its new over-the-air 24/7 broadcast television network TheGrio.TV and digital platforms has hired veteran Washington, DC correspondent April Ryan in the dual role of White House Correspondent and Washington, DC Bureau Chief. Ryan will begin her new position with Allen Media Group on January 4, 2021. Joe Biden will be the fifth U.S. president Ryan has covered since she began her career as a White House correspondent 24 years ago.
April Ryan, a frequent contributor to CNN, is a Baltimore native and Morgan State University graduate. Ryan has served on the board of the prestigious White House Correspondents Association. She is one of only four African Americans in the Association’s over 100-year history to serve on its board. She is also an esteemed member of the National Press Club. In 2015, Ms. Ryan was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for her first book, “The Presidency in Black and White: My Up-Close View of Four Presidents and Race in America.” Shortly after, she became the 2017 National Association of Black Journalists ‘Journalist of the Year.’ In 2017, Ryan also received the ‘She Persisted Award’ from the Women’s Media Center. She was recognized as the 2019 ‘Freedom of the Press Award Winner’ by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
At one time owned by NBCUniversal, TheGrio.com was purchased by Byron Allen in 2016 when it had less than 1 million monthly active users. In Summer 2020, TheGrio.com achieved its peak of over 10.5 million monthly active users. TheGrio.com is now one of the most visited news and entertainment sites for the African-American community, and is the largest employer of African-American journalists. TheGrio.TV television network officially launches on January 15, 2021 – the start of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday weekend. The newly-rebranded broadcast television network TheGrio.TV will feature African American-focused content reaching over 100 million U.S. households via over-the-air broadcast television stations, cable/telco/satellite platforms, and free digital streaming.
TheGrio.TV recently added broadcast television station subchannel distribution with Fox owned-and-operated television stations in eleven major markets: New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, Minneapolis, and Orlando. These eleven U.S. television markets represent 29.6 percent of general market households and 36.3 percent of African-American households.
“Award-winning White House correspondent April Ryan is a phenomenal talent and brilliant political analyst,” said Byron Allen, Founder/Chairman/CEO of Allen Media Group. “We are very proud to have April join our rapidly-growing news organization with her vast relationships and experience.” “It is a new era in our nation! Not only do we have new leaders, but it is a new season for me professionally, as well. After nearly 24 years, I am beginning a new chapter and bringing my political expertise to Byron Allen’s media company as well as continuing my work as a political analyst for CNN,” said April Ryan. “I look forward to being the first-ever White House Correspondent and D.C. Bureau Chief for Allen Media and The Grio. It is also my welcomed pleasure to work alongside Mr. Byron Allen, one of the most-enterprising moguls in media today.”
