Lionsgate and CBS Corp have teamed up to operate the cable network TVGN and its website TVGuide.com. In the announcement, the two companies have formed a joint venture, with CBS acquiring 50% in the cable network and website.
The original owners were One Equity Partners, the private equity investment subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase. While the terms were not disclosed, earlier reports indicated that CBS would pay out about US$100 million for the shareholdings.
With the acquisition of TVGN, CBS would have an entertainment cable channel to complement its sports cable network. In a statement, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves said, "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 for our carriage partners."
Lionsgate for its part, issued a statement from its CEO Jon Feltheimer and Vice Chairman Michael Burns,saying "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."
Currently, nearly 80 million homes are subscribed to TVGN.
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