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Middle-market M&A in the media industry traditionally hasn't been a large proportion of total midmarket deals. The decrease in advertising revenue, a major source for many media companies, combined with tighter credit than in years past, has put a damper on some assets coming off the auction block. Playboy Enterprises Inc. (NYSE:PLA) announced last month that it would attempt to sell itself for $300 million, but published reports have already stated that several private equity firms have decline to bid for the adult magazine publisher. Meanwhile, the New York Times Co. (NYSE:NYT) has had its 17.75% stake in the Boston Red Sox up for sale since last fall, but no bidders have come close to the asking price of a reported $300 million. Analysts say the stake is worth between $150 million to $170 million. In May, two of the four midmarket media deals involved television assets. One Equity Partners and media investor Alan Shapiro acquired a 49% stake in the TV Guide Network for $125 million. Central and Eastern European private equity firm Mid Europa Partners purchased Slovenia's largest cable and broadband operator, known as UPC Slovenia BV, from John Malone's Liberty Global Inc. (NASDAQ:LBTYA). June has been a promising start as Hearst Interactive Media agreed on Tuesday to sell its stake in E Ink -- a developer for the technology of the Amazon Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) to e-paper display module supplier Prime View International of Taiwan for $215 million. But as anything in this economy, midmarket M&A in the media sector will be tough to predict. There's certainly no shortage of media assets for sale in the middle market; it's just filling in the other half of the equation of willing buyers offering a palatable bid in the new realities of this global economy. - Gerald Magpily
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Media properties haven't been getting much love lately as one of the primary sources of revenue for the sector -- advertising -- has been waning. After planning to spend $1.6 billion in advertising in 2009, according to TNS Media Intelligence, the General Motors Corp. 
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