CBS mulling acquisition of pay cable network Starz

[mvcg66b3r]

Could CBS, which owns pay cable network Showtime, add another premium cable player, Starz, to its portfolio? I hear that CBS has been kicking the tires on acquiring Starz, one of several content companies CBS had expressed interest in. Details are scarce but I hear what had been discussed is a possible stock deal close to the current Starz stock price. It is unclear how far the conversations have progressed.

If a deal comes to fruition, it would mark the first major acquisition move by Leslie Moonves since he was named chairman of CBS last month, replacing Sumner Redstone. He will address the company’s investors for the first time as chairman at the CBS Investors Day tomorrow.

Starz, in which John Malone’s Liberty owns 49% of the voting shares and controls the company, was put up for sale in September 2014 when the company hired investment bank LionTree Advisors, reportedly seeking $5 billion, a 43% premium over its market value at the time.

https://deadline.com/2016/03/cbs-buying-starz-cable-network-deal-talks-leslie-moonves-1201720007/

 

[TheBigA]

I have never subscribed, and have never even been interested. I watched a free sample for a week or so, and walked away. Seems like they're pretty low-tier, and I bet Malone has been running them into the ground.

 

[umfan]

Starz has the contract to distribute Disney movies content as the first premium cable release. This, more than anything, is what gives them any value. $5B seems pretty rich. If indeed CBS has interest, it would most likely be to fill out a streaming 'cord cutting' package with CBS, CBS News, Showtime and then Starz content. Perhaps they feel they need additional weight to make such an initiative work. Encore and its channels would come as part of the deal. Some of Encore's networks could provide additional distribution streams for CBS owned content.

We'll see. I really doubt it'll go for $5B though.

 

[ShawnHill1]

I have never subscribed, and have never even been interested. I watched a free sample for a week or so, and walked away. Seems like they're pretty low-tier, and I bet Malone has been running them into the ground.

They've beefed on original content in recent years to compete with HBO and Showtime, and they've hit it big at least recently with "Black Sails" and "Power". As umfan mentioned, they have the Disney content deal (including all of the recent Marvel films not involving Fox and Sony collaborations), and they have a content deal with Sony Pictures as well.

Between the two companies, they have at least a couple dozen movie channels, but I can imagine a few of those will be merged with a similar-styled channel or shuttered altogether.