BuzzFeed licenses its name to LocalNow, a Byron Allen affiliate to be rebranded BuzzFeed TV

BuzzFeed, the company behind BuzzFeed, HuffPost and Tasty, has agreed to let a company affiliated with its controlling shareholder put the BuzzFeed name on another business. In its quarterly report filed on November 9, 2026, BuzzFeed said it had signed a binding term sheet that day giving LocalNow, LLC a license to use certain BuzzFeed marks in the United States to rebrand LocalNow as BuzzFeed TV. LocalNow is an affiliate of Allen Family Digital, BuzzFeed's controlling shareholder, which was founded and is run by Byron Allen, BuzzFeed's chairman and chief executive.

BuzzFeed earns a license fee only on LocalNow's revenue above $25 million a year: 20% of the amount over that threshold. The first term runs for 12 months and renews if both sides agree in writing.

Three deals in a day

Two more arrangements were signed on November 9. Under a reciprocal media commitment, Allen Media, another affiliate, will spend up to $12 million a year and BuzzFeed up to $10 million a year, each sum tied to the other's qualifying media spending. And Allen Family Digital bought 14,498,356 newly issued BuzzFeed shares at $0.5173 each, the closing price on November 6, giving BuzzFeed about $7.5 million. When it took control in May, it agreed to pay $3.00 a share; the new price is about 17% of that (our calculation).

Because Allen, as BuzzFeed's chairman, and Allen Family Digital, as its controlling shareholder, are related parties, both term sheets count as related-party deals. The report says Allen abstained, the audit committee approved them, and the disinterested directors at the meeting approved them on November 8, finding the terms fair. It also lists the risks: letting an affiliate rebrand and operate as BuzzFeed TV “creates inherent risks outside our direct editorial and programming control,” and BuzzFeed will receive no license fees at all if LocalNow stays under the $25 million mark.

Fewer hours with BuzzFeed

The deals come as BuzzFeed's audience shrinks. Time spent with its content fell 26% to 50.7 million hours in the three months to September 30 and 16% over the first nine months of the year. The measure, from Comscore, covers BuzzFeed's own U.S. sites and apps and its content on Apple News and YouTube in the U.S., and leaves out platforms where it has little advertising of its own, such as Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat and X.

The company still points to strengths. In its results release on November 4, it said the BuzzFeed brand drew 28.9 million hours of U.S. time spent in the quarter, just behind People.com's 29.9 million in its competitive set, and HuffPost 16.2 million. Direct visits and internal web and app referrals made up 67% of U.S. traffic to the BuzzFeed brand's own sites and apps, up from 65% in the second quarter, which it said makes it less reliant on other platforms' algorithms.

New owner, new plan

Allen Family Digital agreed in May to buy 40 million shares for $120 million, paying $20 million in cash and the rest with a five-year promissory note, and now holds more than half of BuzzFeed's stock. Allen became chairman and chief executive on May 26, and founder Jonah Peretti moved to a new role as president of BuzzFeed AI. In July, BuzzFeed cut about 35% of its workforce and dedicated contractors, which Allen said should save about $30 million a year. He said the aim is to make BuzzFeed “a premier global free streaming platform,” and the company has put off giving a full-year outlook.

The 10-Q also says that “the substantial doubt about the Company's ability to continue as a going concern has been resolved.” BuzzFeed had earlier disclosed conditions that raised that doubt, and said in March that, without a strategic transaction, it did not expect to have enough resources to meet its cash obligations for the next 12 months. It credits the repayment of $20 million of debt in the second quarter, its return to compliance with Nasdaq's listing rules and the cash it expects from operations over the next year. BuzzFeed had $8.8 million in unrestricted cash at September 30, and it was out of compliance with its credit agreement's borrowing base requirements on that date, for which it obtained a waiver on November 3.