NBC Universal and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group have agreed to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications.
While the companies didn’t disclose financial details, sources said the price tag is close to $3.5 billion which is well off the originally targeted $5 billion. As a result of the original high asking price, a number of bidders dropped out, including Time Warner.
Weather is the third-most-distributed US cable network with viewers in more than 96 million US homes. Its website is rated among the top 15 most visited sites. It also has a significant mobile content business with more than6 million unique visitors per month. . Its annual revenue has been estimated at $550 million, according to the Associated Press. Weather’s success spans 25 years.
“This will further position NBC Universal as the leading provider of news, information and weather, both online and on television,” NBC Uni president and CEO Jeff Zucker said. “Joining with the Weather Channel properties plays to our strengths in developing and programming cable networks,” he said. In an interview with THR, he pointed to NBC Uni’s success with such network acquisitions as Bravo, Sci Fi and most recently Oxygen.
Cross-promotional opportunities are “a big part of this deal,” Zucker said, referring to NBC’s TV stations, CNBC, MSNBC and such NBC shows as Today and Dateline which could become possible Weather content partners.
