Time Warner, the parent company of Turner Broadcasting, and Vice Media have ended talks about a partnership, the head of HLN said in a memo to staff Thursday.
Albie Hecht sent a note to staff saying “negotiations with Vice have ended,” adding that “I want to thank each of you for your passion, patience and support over the past few months.”
Vice, a rapidly growing media organization geared to the coveted 18- to 34-year-old demographic, had been in talks about Time Warner making a major investment in the company, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The person asked to remain unnamed.
Those talks also included discussions about Vice becoming deeply involved in programming of struggling HLN, formerly CNN Headline News.
The parties couldn’t come to agreement on how much Vice was worth. Earlier reports speculated that Vice might be worth more than $2 billion.
It’s unclear whether Time Warner will seek another partner on HLN.
“This wasn’t make or break for HLN,” the person told the AJC.
Earlier this year, Turner unveiled to advertisers new positioning and branding for the network.
HLN “is going to continue down the path they started on,” the person familiar with the discussions said.
An e-mail message left for a representative of Vice was not immediately returned. A Time Warner spokeswoman declined to comment when contacted by the AJC.
An apparent end to talks comes as Time Warner and top Turner executives move toward restructuring the Atlanta-based Turner networks, including CNN, HLN, TBS and TNT.
Turner operations remain solidly profitable, but ratings for some of its biggest networks have fallen, and there is pressure to produce more original programming or carry sports that viewers can’t get elsewhere. In addition, much of the TV industry is scrambling to figure out how to make more money serving viewers who are increasingly likely to go to streaming services such as Netflix or online for entertainment and news.
This summer, Time Warner rebuffed a hostile takeover bid by Rupert Murdoch and 21st Century Fox. But the move to stay independent has put added pressure on Time Warner to boost profitability and the company’s stock price to appease shareholders and fend off Murdoch or other possible suitors.
The restructuring process, known as Turner 2020, is designed to cut costs, boost revenue through new original content and other avenues and give viewers things they can’t see elsewhere.
Earlier this week, Turner announced plans to offer buyouts to 600 older workers, and said future layoffs are expected. The AJC also reported that the job cuts could grow to as many as 1,500 workers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the situation. But it was unclear if the 1,500 job cuts included the buyout offers or where the bulk of the cuts would be made.
Turner has about 13,000 full-time employees worldwide, about half of them in metro Atlanta.
Multiple media organizations also reported recently that CNN officials had held talks with conservative pundit and The Blaze founder Glenn Beck about taking over HLN.
