ITV

Tag: hearst

  • A+E Global Media joins cable fire sale as Disney and Hearst weigh exit

    A+E Global Media joins cable fire sale as Disney and Hearst weigh exit

    MUMBAI: A+E Global Media, home to A&E, History and Lifetime, is up for grabs as Disney and Hearst are exploring a potential sale of their 50-50 joint venture, adding to the growing list of cable assets being spun off or dumped in a rapidly fragmenting media landscape.

    The duo have roped in Wells Fargo to explore strategic options for the privately held firm, which rebranded earlier this year from A+E Networks. International media reports quote sources saying that  a full or partial sale is on the cards, though no deal is guaranteed. The move comes amid a broader industry pivot, with NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery already planning to cleave off large chunks of their legacy cable businesses.

    NBCU’s new entity Versant will house MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network and others, while WBD is prepping a 2026 split of its linear networks, including CNN, TNT, TBS, Discovery and HGTV. A+E’s roster—spanning Lifetime Movie Network, FYI, Vice TV, and a fleet of Fast and AVOD services—could make for a tasty bolt-on to either portfolio.

    While A+E continues to throw off cash, it’s not immune to cable’s cord-cutting crisis. Subscriber counts are down to around 58 million per brand, well off their peak, and Disney’s reported equity income from the venture plunged to $207 million in FY24 from $575 million the year prior. That said, the company’s content firepower remains formidable—with deep libraries, active Fast rollouts, and global syndication in nearly 200 markets.
    Under president Paul Buccieri, A+E has bucked some trends by doubling down on original movies for Lifetime and blockbuster docs for History. But the shift is unmistakable: legacy players are slimming down, linear is losing lustre, and media conglomerates are reshuffling the deck for a streaming-first world.

    Disney boss Bob Iger has flirted with calling linear TV “non-core” in the past but ultimately decided to hold on to ESPN, ABC and FX as content engines for Disney+ and Hulu. A+E, however, has long remained outside the mouse house’s main orbit—making it a prime candidate for offloading.

    No price tag has been floated, and reps for Disney, Hearst, A+E and Wells Fargo have declined to comment. But the timing is telling. With Versant aiming to close by end-2025, and WBD’s split targeted for mid-2026, A+E could be the next tile to shift in a fast-moving game of cable consolidation.

    Indian media observers may recollect that the Reliance group has a 51 per cent majority-owned joint venture AETN18 , now called A+E Networks India. The company operates the infotainment channel History TV18 and had, until 2020 , run the lifestyle channels of FYI TV18. How the potential sale of the global media company will affect the Indian joint venture is not known at the time of writing.  So keep watching this space.

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  • Verizon to acquire equity stake in AwesomenessTV; to create new service featuring short-form content

    Verizon to acquire equity stake in AwesomenessTV; to create new service featuring short-form content

    BENGALURU: Verizon today announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase an approximate 24.5 per cent stake in AwesomenessTV. Upon completion of this transaction, the AwesomenessTV multi-platform media company will be valued at approximately $650 million. DreamWorks Animation, which acquired AwesomenessTV in 2013, will remain the company’s majority stakeholder with an approximate 51 per cent ownership of outstanding shares, while Hearst will own the remaining 24.5 per cent. AwesomenessTV founder and CEO Brian Robbins and AwesomenessTV’s president Brett Bouttier will continue to lead AwesomenessTV.

    In addition to its equity investment, Verizon will enter into an agreement with AwesomenessTV to create a first-of-its-kind premium short-form mobile video service featuring leading talent in front of and behind the camera. The new service will operate as a new and independent brand, and feature premium transactional content for a variety of audiences on par with the highest-end content seen on television today. The new service will launch as part of the go90 offering and Verizon will fund the initiative through a multi-year agreement with AwesomenessTV.

    The new premium content service will initially be exclusive to Verizon platforms in the United States, while AwesomenessTV will retain the right to sell content in the rest of the world. In addition to the production resources, expertise and marketing know-how of the team at AwesomenessTV, the partners will draw upon the entire Hollywood community – studios, production companies, writers, directors and actors – for content creation.

    “In addition to delivering compelling scripted and non-scripted series with high production values, AwesomenessTV has demonstrated an ability to zero in on programming that Gen Z and millennials want to watch,” said Verizon executive vice president and president of Product & New Business Innovation, Marni Walden. “The content AwesomenessTV has produced for go90 has exceeded all our expectations with shows such as Guidance and Top Five Live. That’s why we want to be in the AwesomenessTV business.”

    “This deal gives us the resources to work with the biggest talent in front of and behind the camera to create this new branded service and produce the most premium short-form content ever, made specifically for the device racking up the fastest growing viewership – the mobile phone,” said AwesomenessTV’s Robbins. “With Verizon joining DreamWorks Animation and Hearst as part of our equity ownership group, we benefit from the strategic insight and resources of the entertainment and communications industries’ most visionary companies and leaders. Our goal is to be the media company of the future, where content and distribution go hand in hand – we are now one giant step closer to that future.”

    “The creation of this new branded service represents a transformational step, not just for AwesomenessTV, but also for the entire mobile video landscape,” said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “This agreement is clearly impactful for AwesomenessTV – with annual revenues expected to more than double in the first 12 months of content delivery – and even more exciting is the expansion of our relationship with Verizon, one of the world’s most powerful marketers and content distributors, and their commitment to explore with us this incredible opportunity.”

    LionTree Advisors LLC acted as advisor to Verizon during this transaction and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC advised DreamWorks Animation. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The parties currently expect that the transaction will be completed within the next 60 days.

  • Verizon to acquire equity stake in AwesomenessTV; to create new service featuring short-form content

    Verizon to acquire equity stake in AwesomenessTV; to create new service featuring short-form content

    BENGALURU: Verizon today announced it has entered into an agreement to purchase an approximate 24.5 per cent stake in AwesomenessTV. Upon completion of this transaction, the AwesomenessTV multi-platform media company will be valued at approximately $650 million. DreamWorks Animation, which acquired AwesomenessTV in 2013, will remain the company’s majority stakeholder with an approximate 51 per cent ownership of outstanding shares, while Hearst will own the remaining 24.5 per cent. AwesomenessTV founder and CEO Brian Robbins and AwesomenessTV’s president Brett Bouttier will continue to lead AwesomenessTV.

    In addition to its equity investment, Verizon will enter into an agreement with AwesomenessTV to create a first-of-its-kind premium short-form mobile video service featuring leading talent in front of and behind the camera. The new service will operate as a new and independent brand, and feature premium transactional content for a variety of audiences on par with the highest-end content seen on television today. The new service will launch as part of the go90 offering and Verizon will fund the initiative through a multi-year agreement with AwesomenessTV.

    The new premium content service will initially be exclusive to Verizon platforms in the United States, while AwesomenessTV will retain the right to sell content in the rest of the world. In addition to the production resources, expertise and marketing know-how of the team at AwesomenessTV, the partners will draw upon the entire Hollywood community – studios, production companies, writers, directors and actors – for content creation.

    “In addition to delivering compelling scripted and non-scripted series with high production values, AwesomenessTV has demonstrated an ability to zero in on programming that Gen Z and millennials want to watch,” said Verizon executive vice president and president of Product & New Business Innovation, Marni Walden. “The content AwesomenessTV has produced for go90 has exceeded all our expectations with shows such as Guidance and Top Five Live. That’s why we want to be in the AwesomenessTV business.”

    “This deal gives us the resources to work with the biggest talent in front of and behind the camera to create this new branded service and produce the most premium short-form content ever, made specifically for the device racking up the fastest growing viewership – the mobile phone,” said AwesomenessTV’s Robbins. “With Verizon joining DreamWorks Animation and Hearst as part of our equity ownership group, we benefit from the strategic insight and resources of the entertainment and communications industries’ most visionary companies and leaders. Our goal is to be the media company of the future, where content and distribution go hand in hand – we are now one giant step closer to that future.”

    “The creation of this new branded service represents a transformational step, not just for AwesomenessTV, but also for the entire mobile video landscape,” said DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. “This agreement is clearly impactful for AwesomenessTV – with annual revenues expected to more than double in the first 12 months of content delivery – and even more exciting is the expansion of our relationship with Verizon, one of the world’s most powerful marketers and content distributors, and their commitment to explore with us this incredible opportunity.”

    LionTree Advisors LLC acted as advisor to Verizon during this transaction and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC advised DreamWorks Animation. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions. The parties currently expect that the transaction will be completed within the next 60 days.

  • WPP’s Xaxis acquires US mobile advertising & e-commerce company

    WPP’s Xaxis acquires US mobile advertising & e-commerce company

    MUMBAI: WPP’s wholly-owned operating company Xaxis has agreed to acquire Action Exchange, Inc. (ActionX), a mobile advertising and e-commerce company in the United States.

     

    ActionX’s proprietary mobile-first data, audience targeting and dynamic creative advertising technology allows its clients to engage customers on multiple screens on the path to the point of purchase. Clients include e-commerce and media subscription companies such as Forbes, JackThreads and Hearst. ActionX employs 25 people and is based in New York.

     

    This investment continues WPP’s strategy of investing in fast growing sectors such as mobile and e-commerce. WPP’s digital revenues were $6.9 billion in 2014, representing 36 per cent of the Group’s total revenues of $19 billion. WPP has set a target of 40-45 per cent of revenue to be derived from digital in the next five years.

     

    Xaxis is a programmatic media platform that directs more than $770 million of audience-targeted media buys across 40 markets in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and the Middle East.