By Kayla DeKraker
A+E’s fate hangs in the balance as the Walt Disney Co. and Hearst look to potentially offload the brand.
Disney and Hearst share a 50/50 split of the media company which owns the History Channel and Lifetime. Wells Fargo will help A+E decide whether to sell or merge as Disney and Hearst “navigate a choppy environment for traditional platforms,” per The Hollywood Reporter.
“Looking forward, the current environment and our early forecasts suggest it will be difficult to achieve another year of profit growth in 2025,” Hearst CEO Steve Swartz said back in February. “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.”
He explained how although cable is gaining traction, it is still a tough market as it struggles to compete with streamers.
“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,” he said. “The tougher ad market, along with continued cord cutting, is also significantly impacting A+E.”
A+E isn’t the only network up for new ownership. Variety reported, “NBCUniversal is preparing to divest MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network and four more linear channels” and that “Warner Bros. Discovery also plans a similar separation from a clutch of linear cable assets: CNN, TNT, TBS, Discovery, Food Network, HGTV, TruTV and more.”
A+E and Lifetime began in the early 1980s as a cable channel based out of New York. The History Channel came later in 1995.
Unfortunately, just because the network is for sale does not mean it will have any buyers. Time will tell what will happen to the brand and the many shows under it.
Many cable channels have suffered as streaming booms. One survey revealed that 51% of people still pay for cable, but 27% of that is because of its access to live sports. These numbers aren’t that impressive when looking at overall viewership. According to Nielsen’s The Gauge, streaming viewership sits at 44.8%, while cable makes up only 24.1%.
Cable’s higher price point than streaming also make it less accessible for many. Nielsen revealed that households with an income over $100,000 are more likely to use cable.
Related: Did Streaming Kill the Entertainment Industry?
Whether picked up by other cable channels or offered on a streaming platform, only time will tell what the future holds for A+E and other long-time cable channels.
Read Next: American’s Are Forgoing Cable TV Due to High Costs
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