Turner Would ‘Take Look’ at Travel
New Owner Cox Doesn’t Own Other Cable Networks
By Tom Steinert-Threlkeld -- Multichannel News, 3/29/2007 7:05:00 PM
New York -- Turner Broadcasting System “would take a look” at acquiring Travel Channel from Cox Communications should the cable operator put the network on the block after completing the sale of its stake in Discovery Communications' collection of networks.
Turner would potentially be interested in adding Travel to its lineup, which currently includes such cable networks as TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network and Court TV, said Mark Lazarus, president of Turner Entertainment Group, after the International Radio & Television Foundation’s Newsmakers Luncheon at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Times Square here.
A lot would depend, he added, on what the terms of programming and other contracts are in force between Travel and business partners, without adding further definition.
Turner is part of Time Warner, the large media and entertainment concern, and it would be “natural,” he said, for it to review Travel if it were to be put up for sale by the cable operator that is slated to become its new owner. Cox is acquiring Travel as part of the $1.3 billion sale of its 25% stake in Discovery to John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media.
Unlike other cable-system operators such as Time Warner Cable, Comcast and Cablevision Systems -- which either directly or under a corporate umbrella also operate programming networks -- Cox until now has not shown an interest in operating or marketing such a network.
And networks such as Hallmark Channel have a tough time gaining attention and significant licensing fees for their content when they stand alone.
Hallmark, while rating as one of the top-10 ad-supported cable networks, only commands monthly licensing fees from operators on the order of a nickel, or 60 cents per year. Fox News Channel, by contrast, now is getting 60 cents or more each month as it renews licensing contracts with operators.
“I certainly don’t understand how it’s going to stand out there on its own,” said Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC Universal Cable and Digital Content, about Travel.
NBCU owns Bravo, for instance, which has benefited greatly from marketing of its shows across other channels NBC owns, including its namesake broadcast network.
“It’s an interesting development,” A&E Television Networks CEO Abbe Raven said, declining to indicate whether AETN -- part of a joint venture with NBC U -- might be interested in adding Travel to its collection of networks, which include The History Channel, Biography Channel and Military History Channel.
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