Several suitors show interest in The Weather ChannelBy KRISTI E. SWARTZThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionPublished on: 03/26/08Early bids are in for the Atlanta-based Weather Channel, and speculation about the likely buyer abounds. Family-owned Landmark Communications Inc. is said to want $5 billion for the weather-forecasting enterprise, which includes the coveted weather.com. But analysts say that the company should expect a disappointing price because the economy is so sour and credit is tight.Landmark is keeping mum about the names of, or number of, suitors. But the reported list is a who's-who in the media world, though analysts say some of the companies may just be using the sale as an opportunity to look at each other's financials in private. The finalists may go through one or two additional bidding rounds unless one particular company's price is significantly higher than the others'. A decision probably won't be made for the next couple of months.Favorites• News Corp.: News Corp. has the money as well as the history of combining traditional media — television — with new media, experts say. And, its popular Fox News Channel and foxnews.com are chief competitors to Atlanta's CNN, whose parent company may also be in the hunt. But News Corp. just paid a lot for Dow Jones, and media reports say it has submitted a bid to buy Newsday from Tribune Co.&bulll; NBC Universal: NBC has made good money off of its cable networks, which include Bravo and USA, and could stand to do so with this purchase. What's more, Weather Channel's TV network and Web site could tie in with NBC's own operation, Weather Plus. However NBC's parent company, General Electric Co., is going to be too worried about its earnings to do such a deal at the purported asking price, analysts say.Maybe, but issues• Time Warner Inc.; A weather-focused station would fit in nicely with Time Warner's CNN and give the company a leg up over key rival News Corp. But analysts aren't sure whether the new CEO Jeff Bewkes is going to want to pay $5 billion for another cable station.• Comcast Corp: As the nation's No. 1 cable provider, Comcast is also the Weather Channel's biggest customer. On top of that, Comcast may want to add a weather channel to its other networks, which include E! Entertainment Television, The Golf Channel and TV One. As with NBC and Time Warner, analysts say Wall Street also likely wouldn't support this deal unless Comcast does it for dirt cheap.Probably not• CBS Corp.: Even though CEO Les Moonves recently said he'd be interested in the Weather Channel at the right price, analysts say Wall Street would punish the company severely if such an expensive deal was done.• Discovery Communications: The Weather Channel's new high-definition studio could be considered an asset for the HD-heavy Discovery Communications, which has captured viewers through core nonfiction channels, such as Animal Planet and the Military Channel. Discovery also bought the Atlanta-based HowStuffWorks last year, giving the company somewhat of a local tie.Analysts value this company at about $5 billion, which means it would be trying to buy a company of roughly equal size.What some of the experts are predicting:• Alan Breznik, senior analyst with Heavy Reading:"It makes more sense for an NBC or a Time Warner or a Fox and News Corp. because they have news networks, and NBC has a weather network... it has more in common with a news network than entertainment programming."• Alan Gould, media analyst with Natixis Blechroeder:"The best fit would be News Corp. Weather is news, it's not one of the critical news items, but something that at the right price, News Corp. would be interested in."• Joe Bonner, a media and telecom analyst with Argus ResearchDespite the skepticism of some other observers, "CBS is certainly a leading candidate because they are hungry for the Internet property — that's a good part of the Weather Channel."
