Former Five Boss Enters Bidding War For Hallmark Channel

Former Five chief executive David Elstein has entered into a bidding war for control of the Hallmark Channel, reputed to have tabled an offer of around £500 million, the move puts him in direct competition with reported bids from several other companies including Sony.

Among the parties understood to be interested in acquiring the Hallmark Channel are media giants News Corporation, Disney, Turner, Time Warner, Saban, MGM and Liberty Media. A winning bid would give the new owner control the Hallmark Channel in the UK, along with its other operations in over 120 countries. A successful bid would also secure Hallmark’s library of films, themselves worth several millions of pounds.

It is understood that the bidding process will be intentionally short, closing by the end of this month and completed by autumn, however, with many big name companies involved there could easily be a fierce price battle ahead before the channel’s future is determined.

Elstein has been a prominent figure in the british media, most recently making recommendations that the BBC’s licence fee be abolished in favour of broadcasters instead being allowed to bid for funding to make public service programmes (see Tory Report Calls For Reduction Of BBC Licence Fee).

The Hallmark Channel is currently owned by Hallmark Entertainment but run by Crown Media. Elstein previously joined forces with the channel in the run up to ITV’s merger last year, preparing an alternative but ultimately unsuccessful bid, backed by Hallmark, to take control of the commercial TV network (see Elstein’s ITV Bid Boosted By Hallmark Link).

Crown Media: www.crownmedia.net

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