DISNEY - A&E AND LIFETIME CABLE CHANNELS MERGE

A&E AND LIFETIME CABLE CHANNELS MERGE

In a somewhat complicated reorganization of their ownership and management structure, the A&E cable channel and the Lifetime channel are merging. The Walt Disney Company and the Hearst Corp. had been equal owners of Lifetime and one-third owners each of A&E. The other third of A&E was owned by NBC. Now, reports indicated, all three companies will own the merged entity, but NBC's share will be smaller than its two partners'. There was no indication in the announcement of the deal whether any money had exchanged hands. A&E President Abbe Raven will head the new company, which will retain the name A&E Television Network, while Lifetime Entertainment Services will henceforth exist as a subsidiary, with its CEO, Andrea Wong, reporting to Raven. Lifetime registered its biggest audience to date last week (August 20) with the season premiere of Project Runway .

28/08/2009