A&E Television Net Acquires Lifetime Entertainment

A&E Television Networks, which is a joint venture between the Disney-ABC Television Group, Hearst Corp. and NBC Universal — has entered into an agreement to acquire Lifetime Entertainment Services, which will put several cable channels under one management team.

The new parent company, which will be called A&E Television Networks, will now encompass many channels including A&E Network, History, Lifetime Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Bio, History International, Lifetime Real Women, History en Español, Military History and Crime & Investigation Network.

Under the terms of the deal, NBCU can “elect or be required to exit the company over a period of up to 15 years,” reported Broadcasting and Cable. If NBCU exits, Hearst and Disney would become 50/50 partners.

Abbe Raven, president and CEO of A&E, will serve as head of the newly combined company. Lifetime’s CEO Andrea Wong, Nancy Dubuc at the History Channel and Robert DiBitetto at A&E will be keeping their positions, and they will all report to Raven, B&C reported.

via B&C and ABC News

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.