Updated: A&E Acquires Lifetime

In what may have been the worst-kept secret of the summer, A&E Television Networks is officially acquiring Lifetime Entertainment Services, per terms of a three-handed arrangement between Disney-ABC Television, Hearst Corporation and NBC Universal.Once the deal closes, Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network will be brought into the A&E fold, with AETN president and CEO Abbe Raven assuming oversight of the three major network properties (A&E, History and Lifetime Nets). The brands will remain intact.In a statement released Thursday afternoon, the principals indicated that the three current network heads will retain their positions upon finalization of the deal. As such, Andrea Wong, president and CEO of Lifetime Entertainment Services, will continue to lead the two Lifetime ventures, while Bob DeBitetto and Nancy Dubuc will serve as president and general manager of their respective properties. (DiBitetto runs A&E and The Biography Channel, while Dubuc is the skipper of History and its spinoff nets.)All three execs will report directly to Raven.While no decisions have been made as to how the deal will impact Lifetime’s org chart, it is likely that Mel Berning, AETN executive vp, national ad sales, may assume oversight of the Lifetime nets’ ad sales efforts. (AETN declined comment on the matter, saying only that no decisions will be made until the deal actually closes. The ink is expected to dry early in the fourth quarter.)Per SNL Kagan data, Lifetime generated $904.9 million in total revenue last year, of which $605.1 million was brought in on the ad sales side.Prior to the reshuffling, Disney-ABC TV and Hearst each held a 37.5 percent stake in AETN, while NBC Universal controlled the remaining 25 percent. Once the dust settles, Disney and Hearst will each hold an estimated 42.5 percent stake, leaving NBC with around 15.5 percent. The language of the contract includes a codicil by which NBCU may elect or be required to divest itself of its AETN holdings within the next 15 years years, in which event Disney and Hearst could become 50-50 owners of AETN. Financial terms were not disclosed.Lifetime is presently a 50-50 joint venture between Hearst and Disney.In an interview with Mediaweek, Raven said the introduction of the Lifetime nets should make the AETN stable a great buy for advertisers looking to reach a broad range of consumers. “What’s fascinating about all of this and the thing I’m most excited about is that we will now, in a consolidated form, have brands that really cross over and are at the top of their respective demos,” Raven said. “We have Lifetime, the #1 female-skewing brand, joining the very male History. And A&E is really evenly balanced between male and female viewers. So for advertisers looking for strong demos, we as a company will certainly be the place to come.”The move reunites Lifetime and A&E, which were conjoined under the Daytime and Arts banner back in the early 1980s. The channel was split down the middle in 1984, a division which created the standalone networks. When the two properties went their separate ways, Raven decided to go with A&E, serving as the new channel’s director of production. She’s been with the company ever since.“I was there at the beginning, and so this is represents a lot of things coming full circle, for both me and the networks,” she said.Disney president and CEO Bob Iger first tipped off investors to the Lifetime talks this spring, during the Sanford Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference in New York. Iger said Disney was examining ways to free up the ownership structure, noting that the Mouse “leave[s] money on the table by not managing [Lifetime and AETN] as one company.” He added that while the conversations had been going on for some time, “unwinding a decades-old partnership gets kind of complicated. It takes two and, in A&E’s case, three partners to tango.”

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Updated: A&E Acquires Lifetime

Anthony Crupi

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