The non-print versions of struggling entertainment magazine TV Guide is being passed around like a hot potato, first being purchased by Macrovision Solutions Corp. last May, and now moving into the pocket of movie studio Lionsgate Entertainment Corp., which has bought the magazine and Web site for $225 million.
This will mark the third owner for the online and television version of the magazine in two years, beginning with Gemstar-TV Guide International, which was partially owned by News Corp., the owner of the Fox Network and the Twentieth Century Fox movie studios.
"I'm looking for more diversification from our company," Lionsgate's chief executive John Feltheimer, told Bloomberg. "You'll see more things come down the pike."
Marcovision had originally said it would sell the Web site and television channel to One Equity Partners LLC and former Dick Clark Productions owner Allen Shapiro in December, but made it clear at the time that they were allowed to shop the properties around to other buyers.
Macrovision had already sold the print version of TV Guide last October to equity firm OpenGate Capital for $1, and offered the group a $9.5 million loan in the process. With that sale, the ties between the magazine and the Web site were cut, which stopped editorial content from the magazine appearing on the site. The magazine later launched its own site at tvguidemagazine.com.
While Lionsgate has focused mostly on films, it does have a television production arm that has been or continues to be involved in programs such as "The Dead Zone," "Weeds" and "Mad Men."
Lionsgate, which is not related to a similar-named Robert Altman-owned studio from the 1970s, was founded in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is now headquartered in Santa Monica, Calif. It reported revenue of $977 million in 2007.
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Michael Hinman is the founder and site coordinator for Airlock Alpha and the entire BlipNetwork. He owns Quantum Global Media Inc., the parent corporation of the BlipNetwork. He's a print journalist by day, and lives in Tampa, Fla.
