Richard Greenfield spoke with Malone, the CEO at Liberty Media Corp.,
at the media company's analyst day on Friday. Malone sits on
Discovery's board, and he thinks it "unlikely" that the company would buy
Scripps "given how far apart he believes Discovery and Scripps would be
on valuation," the blog states.
Both Discovery and Scripps
have gone through recent modifications that make a combination easier,
if the valuation disparity were resolved.
Discovery owns
Discovery Channel and Animal Planet networks, among other nonfiction
media properties. The Englewood, Colo., outfit began trading as a
slimmed-down, standalone company on Sept. 17, after a complex
restructuring that included the spinoff of Santa Monica, Calif., media
production services company Ascent Media Group LLC. Discovery was once
part of Liberty.
Scripps Networks Interactive, which is best
known for the Food Network and HGTV cable networks, was itself spun off
from Cincinnati newspaper and broadcast group the E.W. Scripps Co. in
July. SNI holds a 70% position in the Food Network and other lifestyle
television and online assets. -
Chris Nolter
