TV Guide for Sale? Murdoch Issues a $1-Million Denial
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NEW YORK — Advertising Age said Monday that Rupert Murdoch is “sounding out prospective buyers” for TV Guide, but the head of News Corp. angrily denied it and said he offered $1 million to the trade publication’s parent if it could provide proof for its story.
Rance Crain, the editor in chief of Ad Age, said he turned down the offer “to bet me $1 million” because it would have required revealing the magazine’s sources.
“We stand by the story completely,” Crain said in a telephone interview.
News Corp. acquired TV Guide as part of a $3-billion buyout of Triangle Publications Inc. nearly two years ago. That deal also included Seventeen magazine and the Daily Racing Form.
The Ad Age story said unidentified publishing industry sources have met with a number of major publishers in recent weeks to gauge interest in TV Guide, a weekly magazine that the report said “has been in an ad page and circulation slump” since it was acquired in 1988.
The story said the asking price is an estimated $2.6 billion, but it said informal bids have been in the $1.5-billion to $2-billion range.
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