CBS & Lionsgate to Share Ownership of TV Guide Network

LOS ANGELES: CBS Corporation and Lionsgate have entered into a 50-50 partnership for the TV Guide Network (TVGN) as well as the TVGuide.com website.

The basic cable channel is currently available in more than 80 million homes. A rebranding and revised programming strategy will be announced at a later date, though the companies have said that it will continue to be entertainment-focused.

The agreement sees CBS purchasing a 50-percent stake in TVGN and TVGuide.com, which is currently held by One Equity Partners, the global private equity investment arm of JPMorgan Chase.

“This is a strategic way for CBS to use its content brands and gain access to a highly distributed basic cable network that has a lot of upside,” said Leslie Moonves, the president and CEO of CBS Corporation. “Lionsgate, led by my friend Jon Feltheimer, is a forward-thinking content company and a great partner for us here. We’re excited to bring CBS’s programming and production assets to the venture, and work with Lionsgate to rebrand and grow a channel that will be increasingly valuable to our carriage partners.”

“We couldn’t be in business with a better blue-chip strategic partner than CBS or a more visionary CEO than our friend Les Moonves,” added Lionsgate’s CEO, Jon Feltheimer, and vice chairman, Michael Burns. “Their track record speaks for itself, and we believe the combination of our two brands and our complementary assets will elevate TVGN to the next level of performance and enable it to fulfill its promise as a significant branded entertainment channel.”