{"id":794345,"date":"2026-07-31T00:13:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/794345\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T00:13:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T00:13:12","slug":"disney-selling-ae-global-media-stake-to-hearst-for-over-1-billion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/794345\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney Selling A+E Global Media Stake To Hearst For Over $1 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDisney<\/a> is shedding a linear asset, selling its 50% stake in A+E Global Media to co-owner Hearst<\/a> Communications, Deadline has learned. The deal, believed to be worth north of $1 billion and all-cash, is being finalized and is expected to be revealed at Disney\u2019s earnings call next week. Word of the pending announcement was tweeted<\/a> by analyst Rich Greenfield Thursday.<\/p>\n

\n\tA+E Global Media\u2019s President & Chairman Paul Buccieri is poised to continue to lead the company following the transaction under Hearst CEO Steven R. Schwartz, I hear.<\/p>\n

\n\tDeadline has reached out to Disney, Hearst and A+E for comment.<\/p>\n

\n\tA+E Global Media<\/a>, parent of long-established cable networks A&E, the History and Lifetime suite of channels and FYI, is a 50-50 venture between Disney and Hearst Communications. The two companies a year ago retained Wells Fargo<\/a> to explore a potential sale.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile companies such as Starz and Roku, along with private equity firms, were rumored to be kicking the tires early on, Hearst ultimately emerged as the most likely buyer months ago. The media company already owns half and is believed to have a significant war chest to acquire the rest. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe sale process started under the previous Disney regime of CEO Bob Iger but was completed under his successor, Josh D\u2019Amaro. It is the media conglom\u2019s first major step in reducing its traditional TV footprint.<\/p>\n

\n\tDisney\u00a0CFO\u00a0Hugh Johnston on the most recent\u00a0earnings\u00a0call in May reaffirmed the company\u2019s position<\/a> that it does not plan to spin off or sell\u00a0linear TV\u00a0networks.<\/p>\n

\n\tD\u2019Amaro\u2019s predecessor Iger in 2023 made waves when he\u00a0said linear networks \u201cmay not be core\u201d assets<\/a>, though he later walked back the comments, calling them\u00a0a public \u201ctest\u201d<\/a>\u00a0of strategic thinking.<\/p>\n

\n\tStill, questions about the long-term future of Disney-owned ABC, ESPN and cable networks such as National Geographic, FX and Freeform have remained. (Disney and Hearst also are joint stakeholders of ESPN, with Disney a majority owner at 72% and Hearst at 18%.)<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile A+E Global Media has been a separate conversation as it was a privately held 50-50 joint venture, its sale will likely restart the discussion about Disney\u2019s linear TV future.<\/p>\n

\n\tImpacted by the same linear viewership declines as the rest of of the cable ecosystem, A+E Global is not the cash cow it once was in terms of its revenue contribution to Disney\u2019s bottom line \u2014 as revealed in Disney\u2019s annual reports \u2014 which is likely why the company is offloading it. <\/p>\n

\n\tFor the moment, A+E Global is still very profitable and has no debt. The company\u2019s financial health is attributed in large part to moves by Buccieri, including an early adoption of the FAST channel model. <\/p>\n

\n\tAdditionally, the A&E Networks own a large portion of their content, a rarity in cable. That makes for a valuable library that goes with the channels. The company\u2019s A+E Studios is behind such series as Netflix\u2019s The Lincoln Lawyer. <\/p>\n

\n\tA+E Global also has stakes in numerous ventures, including Propagate, Range Media Partners and Vice Media.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Disney is shedding a linear asset, selling its 50% stake in A+E Global Media to co-owner Hearst Communications,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":794346,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[258724,3716,88,48171],"class_list":["post-794345","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-ae-global-media","tag-disney","tag-entertainment","tag-hearst"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794345","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=794345"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/794345\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/794346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=794345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=794345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=794345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}