Fox Cable Nets to acquire Turner South
Turner South sale
Feb 24, 2006
News Corp. division Fox Cable Networks is acquiring regional cable channel Turner South from Time Warner division Turner Broadcasting, the two companies announced Thursday.
The deal will give FCN its 15th owned-and-operated network devoted to local sports programming (HR 2/17). Availalble in 8 million homes, Turner South has long-term telecast rights to Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL teams based in the network's hometown of Atlanta.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though sources pin Turner South's price tag at roughly $375 million.
Turner South serves a six-state region including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina. FCN already operates a regional sports channel out of Atlanta called FSN South, which has rights to pro basketball games in Nashville, Memphis and Charlotte.
Tony Vinciquerra, president and CEO Of FCN, envisions Turner South complementing the network's sports coverage in the region.
"The Southeast is just a sportsman's paradise," he said. "I think to have a complete offering for all the sports offerings of interest in that area, we had to have both of them."
Still to be determined is how FCN will put its stamp on Turner South. Though the Turner brand name will likely be removed from the channel's title, FCN has employed different branding strategies in markets where it owns more than one channel, including in California, where FSN West and FSN West 2 coexist. In Florida, FCN operates FSN Florida and SunSports.
Turner South has grown little since being launched seven years ago, consisting of sports and a smattering of original unscripted programming like the makeover gardening series "Bushwhacked."
Turner South is the latest Time Warner-controlled TV property to undergo an ownership change by Time Warner in recent months. The conglomerate also folded the broadcast network the WB last month into a new joint venture with CBS Corp., the CW network.
Time Warner's Atlanta Braves baseball team is also up for sale and was rumored to be shopped together with Turner South, though News Corp. was not said to be interested in the franchise.
The deal will give FCN its 15th owned-and-operated network devoted to local sports programming (HR 2/17). Availalble in 8 million homes, Turner South has long-term telecast rights to Major League Baseball, NBA and NHL teams based in the network's hometown of Atlanta.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, though sources pin Turner South's price tag at roughly $375 million.
Turner South serves a six-state region including Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina. FCN already operates a regional sports channel out of Atlanta called FSN South, which has rights to pro basketball games in Nashville, Memphis and Charlotte.
Tony Vinciquerra, president and CEO Of FCN, envisions Turner South complementing the network's sports coverage in the region.
"The Southeast is just a sportsman's paradise," he said. "I think to have a complete offering for all the sports offerings of interest in that area, we had to have both of them."
Still to be determined is how FCN will put its stamp on Turner South. Though the Turner brand name will likely be removed from the channel's title, FCN has employed different branding strategies in markets where it owns more than one channel, including in California, where FSN West and FSN West 2 coexist. In Florida, FCN operates FSN Florida and SunSports.
Turner South has grown little since being launched seven years ago, consisting of sports and a smattering of original unscripted programming like the makeover gardening series "Bushwhacked."
Turner South is the latest Time Warner-controlled TV property to undergo an ownership change by Time Warner in recent months. The conglomerate also folded the broadcast network the WB last month into a new joint venture with CBS Corp., the CW network.
Time Warner's Atlanta Braves baseball team is also up for sale and was rumored to be shopped together with Turner South, though News Corp. was not said to be interested in the franchise.
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