Jewelry TV aims to buy Shop At Home
By CARLY HARRINGTON, harringtonc@knews.com
June 8, 2006/Knoxville News Sentinel (subscription), TN
Knoxville-based Jewelry Television is acquiring the assets of the struggling Shop At Home network.
The deal, which has not been finalized, will help Jewelry Television meet its growth goals, spokeswoman Kelly Fletcher said.
“From a technology standpoint, it was too good of a deal to pass up,” she said.
The E. W. Scripps Co. announced last month that it planned to close the Nashville-based network, which was founded in Newport in 1986 to sell satellite equipment to satellite TV viewers.
Cincinnati-based Scripps acquired Shop At Home in two transactions with a total value of about $285 million, acquiring controlling interest in October 2002 and buying the remaining interest in April 2004 along with five Shop At Home-affiliated broadcast television stations.
Shop At Home was not profitable when Scripps bought it, but Scripps hoped the channel would provide a shopping outlet for products related to Scripps’ cable networks Home & Garden Television (HGTV), Food Network, Do It Yourself Network and Fine Living.
Scripps also owns the News Sentinel.
