Wide World of Women

Saw this article earlier this morning on CNBC http://www.cnbc.com/2017/07/06/liberty-interactive-to-buy-hsn-in-deal-valued-at-2-point-1-billion.html

This is a blockbuster.
Watch your favorite cable systems to see what happens if this indeed is the last we will see of HSN as we know it.

Even better--spend some time on the phone and ask a representative about it. I recall asking someone when ABC Family became Freeform, it was only a name change at that time.

If this DOES happen, expect a lot of our favorite hosts on both networks to be handed their golden (bronze) parachutes...

Articles detailing the merger/acquisition of HSN by shopping channel rival QVC:

http://variety.com/2017/tv/news/qvc-hsn ... 202488499/

http://fortune.com/video/2017/07/06/qvc ... g-network/

https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articl ... g-is-right

From Bloomberg.com:

Today's special: HSN for just $2.1 billion, in one easy payment! That's almost 20 percent off last year's retail price! (Fine print: It's not in great condition.) As HSN Inc.'s shares fell over the past year and its CEO left for Weight Watchers International Inc., it seemed only a matter of time before John Malone's Liberty Interactive Corp. -- owner of the QVC shopping network -- would opportunistically swoop in. Liberty already owns about 38 percent of HSN, QVC's primary competitor, and on Thursday it finally locked down the rest. The parties announced an all-stock merger valuing HSN at $2.1 billion, which works out to a 27 percent premium over HSN's 20-day average closing price. That's a standard figure for deals this size.


Any guesses on the new name?
QVSN? HSQC? QSN?

Or will they continue to operate them as 2 separate channels, maybe with
one featuring apparel & jewelry only, and the other taking regular merchandise?

It does bring up, though, how this might affect the on-air talent - especially if they
fully merge into one channel eventually... There won't be room for as many hosts.




.

That second idea (keeping both channels with each selling a different set of merchandise) sounds like a good idea.

Right now, though...lots of hosts (and other employees) going through what our English cousins would call "squeaky bum time."

Maybe the will do a channel just for all the Boring Men

According to what I've read, both channels will remain in operation

The merger would give them 5 channels - QVC/QVC2 , HSN/HSN2 plus BeautyIQ which would seem a bit bloated especially with traditional phone-in sales declining. Maybe they go the MTV/ESPN route and rebrand all the channels as QVC

They could do that, but HSN has 40 years of history and customers. They sell a different style of products than QVC does so keeping them as is would probably be the best

Boy if this purchase goes through it is going to be a bloodbath for HSN. I am thinking along the lines of Celebrity Deathmatch and Thunderdome.

QVC has whacked popular/long standing hosts in the past. I don't see many of the older, low internet presence hosts at HSN lasting long at all.

You are on point. Every merger,always means downsizing. QVC is going to keep what they think is the best of HSN and the rest will be crapped. That means hosts and venders and staff.Poor Sarah Anderson didn't see this coming,when she left Evine for HSN.

On flex pay, that's just 100,000,000 easy payments of just $19.99!

i think competing with Amazon is a good idea but you will see lots of the veteran hosts given buyouts
and even though both sell different things some crossover will be eliminated

i was thinking more about the hosts on HSN and my opinion is the newest hires and Bobbi, Colleen and Lynn are safest
Shannon, Marlo, Suzanne,Tamara, Shivan, Robin , Connie and Helen are the ones most likely to get buyout offers
it's usually the middle class or in this case the hosts with 10-20 years experience that are affected in these purchases, you want to keep the best for their names and the newest because they are cheap so you cut the middle

They may keep Robin and and Connie, but I agree that the others might be on the chopping block.

now you know why QVC hired five new women.i bet most of the vets will be getting their walking papers.

They already owned a chunk of HSN, they bought the rest of it. It's not necessary for them to "merge", they can keep both if they're profitable.