ION Rejects EchoStar’s $2.13B Bid

[thetornado]

EchoStar Communications made a $2.13 billion bid for ION Media Networks, which was rejected, the New York Post reported Thursday.

The disclosure came in a Post story that said ION was close to approving a tender offer from NBC Universal and Citadel, a hedge fund and ION’s largest investor. That offer sparked an outcry from a group of angry shareholders, who claimed that the $100 million NBC U and Citadel are anteing up is too low a price.

According to the Post, the disgruntled shareholders are threatening to sue ION’s board if it approves the NBC U-Citadel offer, in part due to the overture made by EchoStar.

More
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6438837.html

[RAD]

What's the upside for Echostar on this deal?

[FTA Michael]

That article, BTW, is from MultiChannel News. http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6438837.html

And the NY Post article that MultiChannel News references is here (http://www.nypost.com/seven/05032007/business/nbcs_ion_takeover_imminent_business_zachery_kouwe. htm).

"The offer from EchoStar, which owns Dish Network, was highly conditional and required the consent of NBC, sources said."

All users should credit their sources and only use fair-use quotes.

[TNGTony]

Good question! All I have to say is that as long as ION/"i"/PAX/whatever it's called today is owned or controlled by NBC-Universal, there will be nothing but CRAP on the channel! NBC cannot go over a certain viewership cap before it has to divest itself of one of its three broadcast networks (NBC, Telemundo and ION) Until then, ION will be nothing but a tax write-off and a way to prevent more competition to enter the market ont he broadcast side.

Ahhh...for the days when the FCC mandated any one company could only own/program/control/have influence over only 1 network and no more. Anyone remember the NBC RED and Blue networks? FCC made NBC lose one of the networks to ensure a competative market. NBC sold the blue network and it became ABC!

See ya
Tony

[Richard King]

The horse's mouth....
http://www.nypost.com/seven/05032007/business/nbcs_ion_takeover_imminent_business_zachery_kouwe. htm
May 3, 2007 -- Ion Media Networks appears close to approving a takeover deal with media giant NBC Universal and hedge fund Citadel despite intense opposition from a group of dissident shareholders and a rival offer made by satellite company EchoStar Communications, sources told The Post.

Since January, NBC has been locked in a battle with a large group of irate investors who argue the media giant's bid undervalues its shares. Under the NBC/Citadel proposal, Citadel, run by secretive billionaire Kenneth Griffin, would pay $100 million for a majority stake in Ion and cash out common stock owners for roughly $1.45 a share.
More....

[Paul Secic]

Good question! All I have to say is that as long as ION/"i"/PAX/whatever it's called today is owned or controlled by NBC-Universal, there will be nothing but CRAP on the channel! NBC cannot go over a certain viewership cap before it has to divest itself of one of its three broadcast networks (NBC, Telemundo and ION) Until then, ION will be nothing but a tax write-off and a way to prevent more competition to enter the market ont he broadcast side.

Ahhh...for the days when the FCC mandated any one company could only own/program/control/have influence over only 1 network and no more. Anyone remember the NBC RED and Blue networks? FCC made NBC lose one of the networks to ensure a competative market. NBC sold the blue network and it became ABC!

See ya
Tony

I read about NBC RED et al 47 years ago when I was in junior high. I agree ION is a waste. Yesterday I read Men2 CH 828 is owned by Tellemundo.

[Jon Ellis]

Yesterday I read Men2 CH 828 is owned by Tellemundo.

That's actually mun2 (mun-dos, a play on the spanish word for world). It's a cable/satellite-only channel, so it doesn't count in the FCC's eyes (they only regulate broadcast ownership). All of the broadcast networks have many cable/satellite sisters.

[alebowgm]

Agreed that ION wont have success under NBC Universal, but I think that in regards to NBC/Telemundo that they should be allowed to operate the two networks without the restrictions, as long as one is primary English and the other is primary Spannish...

Anyways, it doesn't surprise me NBC shot this down, because as much as ION is nothing to consumers, the costs of starting up a network from scratch is huge, and at least with ION they already have some infrastructure and stations already in place...

[TNGTony]

I read about NBC RED et al 47 years ago when I was in junior high. I agree ION is a waste. Yesterday I read Men2 CH 828 is owned by Tellemundo.

As mentioned in the answer above, Mun² is a play on words for Telemundo 2. Two is Dos in Spanish. Telemundos or MunDos for short. Mundos also means "Worlds" in Spanish. Get it? They made a funny.

Anyway also as mentioned above, that channel is strictly a cable channel like Bravo, USA and Sci-Fi which are all owend/controlled/programed by NBC/Universal in some way. Those do not count as broadcast networks.

See ya
Tony

[Michael P]

Our local ION (WVPX) is an O&O (Is Paxon still the parent company?). They have yet to put up a digital transmitter at this late date. Why, you may ask? Because their assigned channel for digital was 59! Why invest in equipment on a channel that is going away? Their analog channel is 23, I bet they will do a flash-cut in 2009.

I wonder how many other ION-owned stations are in a similar situation and if so is this a liability for anyone interested in buying the network?

For the earlier question as to what E* would get out of this deal should they succeed in buying the network: vertical integration! News Corp has the FOX network and D*. This would be the equivalent.

[RAD]

For the earlier question as to what E* would get out of this deal should they succeed in buying the network: vertical integration! News Corp has the FOX network and D*. This would be the equivalent.

I can understand the Fox/D* reason, give FOX more total control over their program distrubution, but how does that really apply to a E*/ION deal. From what I've saw of ION programming most of it was syndication/reruns/shopping/relegious programming which E* carries a lot of all ready. E* doesn't have any original programming, except for Charlie and Tech Chats, is he planning to put those shows OTA on ION:D

[Mike D-CO5]

I can understand the Fox/D* reason, give FOX more total control over their program distrubution, but how does that really apply to a E*/ION deal. From what I've saw of ION programming most of it was syndication/reruns/shopping/relegious programming which E* carries a lot of all ready. E* doesn't have any original programming, except for Charlie and Tech Chats, is he planning to put those shows OTA on ION:D


I can see it now. The all Charlie/Tech Chat channel 24 /7 filled with informercials with Leslie Harper of Dish telling you how to use your remote control and Dishnetwork receivers. The rest of the time it could show the shopping channels . :p