Scripps and Discovery Said to Be in Talks as Media Companies Seek Size<br />By MICHAEL J. de la MERCED and EMILY STEELJULY 19, 2017<br />The parent company of HGTV and Food Network has held discussions about selling itself to Discovery Communications, people briefed<br />on the matter said on Wednesday, raising the prospect of further consolidation in a rapidly changing media industry.<br />Discovery, which is backed by the cable mogul John C. Malone<br />and the Newhouse family, has been an active deal maker since the collapse of the Scripps talks three years ago.<br />It is unclear whether Scripps will choose to complete a deal this time around, given<br />that it held talks with Discovery three years ago and backed away.<br />The two companies held talks to combine several times — most recently in 2014 —<br />though those discussions fell apart over a range of issues, including price.<br />Shares in Discovery were up nearly 5 percent, giving the company a market value of about $15.5 billion.<br />The broadcaster, Scripps Networks Interactive, has also held sale talks with other suitors, one of these people added.
