The deal market for cable channels is heating up, with A+E Global Media now exploring its strategic options, including a potential sale or merger, sources familiar with the matter confirm to The Hollywood Reporter.The company, led by CEO Paul Buccieri, has retained Wells Fargo to help it look into those options.A+E owns the Lifetime, History Channel and A&E cable channels as well as their affiliated streaming offshoots and libraries, among other assets. The company is currently a 50/50 joint venture between The Walt Disney Co. and Hearst, but as those media companies navigate a choppy environment for traditional platforms, they may be looking to offload A+E to a buyer who can more efficiently operate the brands.In February, Hearst CEO Steve Swartz told employees at his company that 2024 was a “tough year” for A+E and the company’s print assets, and that 2025 was not looking much better.“Looking forward, the current environment and our early forecasts suggest it will be difficult to achieve another year of profit growth in 2025,” he wrote. “Among the headwinds we face is a massive drop off in election advertising at our television stations, as the U.S. holds major elections every other year. This recurring and expected decline is accompanied by an increasingly competitive advertising market that challenges linear television with data-rich offerings from streaming platforms and social networks. The tougher ad market, along with continued cord cutting, is also significantly impacting A+E.”Meanwhile the market for linear channels, to be certain, is getting busier.Warner Bros. Discovery is set to split itself in two, with its linear channels (including CNN, Food Network, TNT and TBS) to become their own company, separate from HBO Max and the Warner Bros. Studios, and Comcast will soon spin out most of its cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC, Syfy and USA Network, into a new company called Versant.Both of those linear rollups could emerge as landing pads for A+E, in addition to other possible buyers. Private equity firms have also circled some linear assets in recent years, looking to leverage their recurring subscription revenues and proficiencies in finding efficiencies.Meanwhile, many in the industry are wondering what David Ellison will do at Paramount once Skydance controls that company. Paramount’s cable channels, much like A+E Global Media, do not have live sports, which make them particularly vulnerable to disruption and cord-cutting.A spokesperson for A+E declined to comment.Variety‘s Cynthia Littleton first reported the news.
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