Byron Allen eyes streaming deal for ‘Comics Unleashed’ and ‘Funny You Should Ask’ amid CBS ratings momentum

The move would expand the reach of Allen’s long-running comedy format, which recently celebrated 20 years on television.

Byron Allen is looking to take his late-night comedy business beyond broadcast television.

The media mogul is reportedly in talks to bring his CBS programs “Comics Unleashed” and “Funny You Should Ask” to a major streaming platform, according to LateNighter. A potential deal would give both shows another way to reach audiences as Allen continues building momentum in a competitive late-night landscape.

The reported negotiations come five months after Allen Media Group (the parent company of theGrio) entered an unusual arrangement with CBS. Under the deal, Allen’s company pays the network $20 million annually for airtime and sells the shows’ national advertising inventory itself. CBS previously said it was losing $40 million a year on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” the program that previously occupied the time slot.

Allen’s shows have since delivered several ratings wins against established late-night competitors, particularly among adults ages 18 to 49, a key demographic for advertisers.

As theGrio previously reported, “Comics Unleashed” outperformed NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in both half-hour comparisons among viewers ages 18 to 49 during a recent ratings matchup. The show’s repeat episodes also demonstrated that comedy programming does not necessarily need to be tied to current events to attract an audience.

LateNighter reported that, on a recent Friday, two repeat episodes of “Comics Unleashed” averaged 173,416 viewers ages 18 to 49 across the hour, beating a “Tonight Show” repeat by 3%. Meanwhile, “Funny You Should Ask,” which airs after midnight, also outperformed competing programs in the same demographic.

A streaming agreement could open another distribution window for the shows, whose episodes are designed to remain watchable long after their original air dates. Older episodes of “Comics Unleashed” are already available on YouTube, but first-run episodes of both programs have aired exclusively on traditional television.

It remains unclear which streaming service could carry the programs or whether a potential agreement would include new episodes, existing installments or both.

The possible expansion follows another milestone for Allen’s flagship comedy series. In September, theGrio covered the 20th anniversary of “Comics Unleashed”, which celebrated two decades of showcasing comedians with a star-studded CBS primetime special featuring performers including Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Leslie Jones.

For Allen, the reported streaming talks could represent the next step in extending a long-running comedy format to new audiences while continuing to compete for viewers on network television.