Discovery may buy Scripps

There are reports that Discovery Communications are considering a purchase of Scripps Networks Interactive, the company that owns the Food Network, Travel Channel and half of UKTV.

This possible deal appears to be mostly focused on the US market, where channel owners feel a need to consolidate to gain leverage against the cable companies. Neither Discovery nor Scripps own any major general entertainment or sports channels, which puts them at a disadvantage to larger cable broadcasters such as Fox, Disney, NBCUniversal and Time Warner. A combined company would own lots of channels that are considered "must haves" in the States.

In the UK, Discovery would suddenly own three Freeview channels and half of UKTV. The company has already bought a 20% stake in Eurosport, and may well buy the entire channel in a few years. Taken together, this would make Discovery a slightly more important player.

http://variety.com/2013/tv/news/discovery-mulling-bid-for-owner-of-food-network-hgtv-exclusive-1200941522/

Years earlier, Discovery sold the Travel Channel to Scripps who later bought namesake channels outside the USA. What the heck is going on?

Stuff changes. The game was specialisation, now it's consolidation.

The Travel Channel sale was part of a corporate restructuring back in 2007 which created Discovery Communications in its current form. Cox Enterprises, a cable company which had been involved in Discovery since its founding, wanted to exit and got a bunch of cash and Travel Channel in exchange for their stake in the company. A few years later, Cox sold on Travel Channel to Scripps.