Disney, Hearst look into sale of A+E Global Media
Disney, Hearst look into sale of A+E Global Media
The sale would include popular cable networks such as A&E, History, and Lifetime.
The Great Cable Sell-Off is shaping up to be a big one. Companies like Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery have already announced or carried out plans to divest themselves of their cable channels, and now it’s Disney’s turn to consider a similar move. According to an exclusive report from Variety, Disney and its partner Hearst Communications are in the process of putting A+E Global Media up for sale.
Key Details:
- Get on the wagon: Disney and Hearst have enlisted Wells Fargo to handle the sale process.
- No sure thing: There’s no certainty that A+E Global Media will be sold.
- Mixed strategies: Disney looked to be preparing to sell off all linear networks at one point, but changed course.
According to Variety, Disney and Hearst have turned to Wells Fargo and its investment banking segment to help in the sale of A+E Global Networks. The company is owned 50-50 by Disney and Hearst, and includes assets such as A&E, A&E Crime Central, History, Lifetime, and its associated channels, free streaming channels, and more.
Sources familiar with the process tell Variety that no certainty exists that a sale will be consummated, but that Disney and Hearst are motivated to see if A+E Global Networks can generate any interest in a buyer’s market. As noted, they’re far from the only outlets trying to move on from faltering cable networks.
The news that Disney is considering the sale of cable networks it owns — at least partially — recalls words from Disney CEO Bob Iger in 2023, when he said that linear TV was a “no-growth business,” and that cable channels weren’t necessarily a “core” part of Disney’s business. By 2024, however, Iger appeared to have changed his mind on that opinion, saying that Disney’s linear channels were “deeply embedded” in its future streaming strategy.
NBCUniversal has spun off most of its cable channels into a new company called Versant, and WBD recently announced plans to separate its cable networks from its streaming and movie studio segments. The decline in viewership of cable channels has legacy media companies scrambling to divest themselves of flailing assets before it’s too late.
Now it’s Disney’s turn to give it a try. It will bear watching to see if any companies — including Versant or WBD’s cable segment — sniff around A+E Global Networks. There could be other interested parties as well, but if the channels go unsold, it will be yet another sign that the media world thinks of linear TV as a dying business.
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