The fierce 30-year rivalry between QVC and the Home Shopping Network is now a thing of the past.
The fierce 30-year rivalry between QVC and the Home Shopping Network is now a thing of the past.
QVC, which already owns 38% of stock in HSN, is set to acquire the remaining 62 percent in a $2.1 billion deal.
Both TV shopping networks have seen drops in sales in recent years thanks to consumers increasingly going online to buy what they need.
Arthur C. Martinez, chairman at HSNI, which owns HSN, said in a statement that the move is an “opportunity to further strengthen our content-based brand portfolios in a changing retail landscape.”
Some celebrities are trading NYC for QVC shopping network
The acquisition news comes just two months after HSN CEO Mindy Grossman, who oversaw HSN’s transition to a publicly held company in 2008, left the network to become CEO of Weight Watchers.
Liberty Interactive, the media conglomerate that owns QVC, expects the merger will boost sales with increased broadcasting.
“The addition of HSN will enhance QVC’s position as the leading global video eCommerce retailer, ” said Liberty Interactive CEO Greg Maffei. “Every year they together produce over 55,000 hours of shoppable video content and have strong positions on multiple linear channels and OTT (audio, video and other media) platforms.”
The deal will likely close in the fourth quarter of the year, pending shareholder and regulatory approval.
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jimmy Fallon star in QVC spoof on ‘Tonight Show’
The networks are such a prominent part of pop culture that Jimmy Fallon and Arnold Schwarzenegger once did a bit on “The Tonight Show” that featured the pair playing a QVC host and “foodie” hawking blenders and vegetable choppers.
