A&E Television Networks
 |
|
| Joint venture Limited liability company | |
| Industry | Mass media |
| Founded | 1984 |
| Headquarters | New York City, New York |
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Key people
|
Nancy Dubuc (CEO) Abbe Raven (Chairman) |
| Products | Home video |
| Services | Broadcasting & Cable TV |
| Total equity | $20 billion (2013 est. value) |
| Owner |
Hearst (50%) Disney–ABC Television Group (50%) |
| Divisions |
|
| Subsidiaries |
Lifetime Entertainment Services Vice Media (20%) |
| Website | Official website |
A&E Networks (branded as A+E Networks) is an American media company that owns a group of television channels available via cable & satellite in the U.S. and abroad. A&E stands for Arts & Entertainment. The company is a joint venture with Hearst and Disney-ABC Television Group, a unit of the Disney Media Networks subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company.
A&E was formed from the merger of the Alpha Repertory Television Service and the Entertainment Channel, a premium cable channel, in 1984 with their respective owners keeping stakes in the new company. Thus A&E's shareholders were Hearst & ABC (from ARTS) and Radio City Music Hall (Rockefeller Group) and RCA, then the parent of NBC (from Entertainment Channel). The company launched Arts & Entertainment Network, a cultural cable channel, on February 1, 1984.
In fall 1987, A&E began showing the 1960s series, 'Biography' once-a-week in prime-time, which led the network to purchase the Biography trademark and library and order the commissioning of new 'Biography' episodes beginning in 1990. In 1991, the company launched the A&E Monthly general entertainment magazine, which had a program guide.
The company indicated that plans for a history channel were in the works in 1993 and purchased the Lou Reda Productions documentary library and long term rights for the Hearst Entertainment documentaries archive. In June 1993, the Rockefeller Group's Radio City Music Hall sold its 12.5% stake in A&E to the other three partners (now including NBC in place of RCA) with NBC owning 25% and the other two 37.5% each. Also that month, a new production unit was set up.
The A&E channel expanded to Canada, and later Mexico from 1993 to 1994. 'Biography' began airing 5 nights a week in 1994. Also in 1994, A&E, on its 10th anniversary, changed its name from Arts and Entertainment to A&E.
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