Scripps, NDTV venture talks off

Scripps Networks Interactive and New Delhi Television (NDTV) have ended talks that would have seen the US company take a 69% stake in NDTV Lifestyle.

Under an agreement made in November, Scripps would have paid US$55m for a controlling stake in the NDTV subsidiary. NDTV, one of India’s biggest broadcast groups, would have owned the remaining 31%.

NDTV Lifestyle runs entertainment and personality-led network NDTV Good Times.

The deal was widely expected to be completed in the first quarter of this year, with the resulting joint venture valued at around US$80m.

The pair had also planned to launch other lifestyle channels in Asia, and as recently as March, Greg Moyer, president of Scripps Networks International, told C21 the deal was close to completion, subject to regulatory approval.

However, in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange made yesterday, NDTV said it had “decided to exercise its right to terminate the definitive agreements and is in the process of terminating them.”

In a statement, Scripps said the two companies were unable to come to terms on specific details of the deal and called off talks on Monday.

Scripps has been upping its presence in the international lifestyle channels market. In the US, the cablecaster also owns lifestyle TV brands HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network and Fine Living Network, and country music network Great American Country.

Last year it purchased Travel Channel from Cox Communications for US$181m and also launched Food Network in the UK. The latter, a joint venture with Liberty Global’s Chello Media, is slated to be rolled out in EMEA this year.

With the collapse of the NDTV deal, Scripps will now focus its efforts on joint ventures in Latin America.