Discovery Communications scoops up HGTV, Travel Channel, Food Network in Scripps purchase

Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Science Channel, and Velocity president Rich Ross speaks at the TCA Summer Event 2017.

(Image credit: Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Discovery)

last updated 31 July 2017

Discovery Communications bought Scripps Networks Interactive for $14.6 billion in cash and stock, the companies announced Monday. The move will add Scripps' portfolio of channels including HGTV, Travel Channel, and Food Network to Discovery's Animal Planet and Discovery Channel, with investors "largely positive on the deal for the synergies the combined company will see and the leverage it will have with pay TV partners," CNBC writes.

Others are more reserved about the deal as the number of cord cutters continues to rise. "If there were no secular concern, this deal would be a slam dunk," FBR Capital Markets analyst Barton Crockett wrote earlier this month. "Investors don't trust that this can continue, and we're not sure what turns that fear around."

By scooping up Scripps, Discovery will have 20 percent of total cable viewership and can potentially launch a "skinny bundle" of its networks going forward. "The thinking is that a broader portfolio of channels that specialize in nonfiction and lifestyle programming like travel, food, and nature could appeal to younger viewers and give the combined company a leg up in negotiations with advertisers and programming distributors," The Wall Street Journal writes.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.

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