A+E Networks is rebranding as it seeks to shift focus away from its pay-TV business and toward its burgeoning studios, digital and content creation divisions.
Going forward, the company will operate as A+E Global Media, with its ad sales division now called A+E Media Solutions. While A+E Networks still operates pay-TV channels like A&E, Lifetime, and History, the company has leaned into its studios business and digital efforts in recent years, including aggressive licensing deals for its owned programs, and launching both FAST and YouTube channels based on its brands.
“The name A+E Global Media reflects who we are today – an innovative, multiplatform content engine that reaches audiences everywhere,” says Paul Buccieri, president and chairman of A+E Global Media. “We are powered by our borderless storytelling and worldwide consumption that has no limits. With a vast portfolio of premium brands, cutting-edge studios, and world-class talent, we create compelling narratives that deeply engage viewers across every screen and platform. As we expand our global footprint, our focus remains on delivering exceptional storytelling that resonates across cultures and connects with audiences in meaningful ways.”
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, A+E president of media solutions Toby Byrne says that the new corporate brand “just better reflects who we are now, who we’ve been recently, as well as very much who we’re going to be going forward: A multi-platform company that’s a global provider of entertainment content.”
“I think it’s a great time to change the name. The company as a whole is very forward thinking, data driven, and has a digital mindset,” Byrne adds. “And certainly our team is very solutions oriented as well. When you consider all that, it just felt like A+E Networks was a name for what the company used to be and not what the company is now.”
Last month A+E launched a dedicated digital division that would encompass all of its digital video content and platforms, as part of a larger bid to diversify its business lines. The company is one of the largest pay-TV companies without any sports in its portfolio, and it is trying to lean more on the production and distribution side of the business as cord-cutting continues to erode the traditional business models.
“We bring the lens of a multi-platform approach with our total distribution,” Byrne says. “Cable networks are one part of our distribution. They don’t represent anywhere near the entirety of what the addition of our multi-platform digital endpoints provide – a really important element of our total reach.”
“You’ve got much larger platforms and larger media companies, all of them have sports. And we’re really the largest entertainment company,” Byrne adds. “We have high quality content that is a trusted environment that we continue to invest in year after year. We have innovative solutions that we can provide and flexibility around how we do business, and we are an efficient option compared to many of the other assets in the marketplace.”
Byrne also framed History content as something that complements sports ad buys in terms of audience overlap.
The announcement from A+E (which is jointly owned by The Walt Disney Co. and Hearst) was connected to the company’s annual upfront presentation, which it delivered in a virtual format Wednesday.
The company typically announces a stacked slate of programming with recognizable names both in front of and behind the camera. Among the shows it announced are History programs hosted by David Duchovny, Ving Rhames and Henry Winkler, an American Pickers spinoff History’s Greatest Picks, led by Mike Wolfe; at Lifetime, the company unveiled a development deal with Tyler Perry Studios and Pantheon Media Group, and announced a docuseries on the Judd family; and at A&E, new season orders for Storage Wars and the WWE programs LFG and WWE’s Greatest Moments.