hearst

A long-awaited merger between two cable channels has been finalized...uh, finally.

A&E Networks aquired Lifetime as part of a deal between Hearst, Disney and NBC Universal. The deal makes Lifetime a sub-company in the A&E empire.

The deal puts Disney and Hearst in the front row seats of both networks with NBC in a distant third. This means that NBC can sell its holdings in Lifetime to the other two parties within the next 15 years.

There doesn't seem to be any serious announcement or confirmations of a name or brand change under their new owners. Lifetime will still be called Lifetime.

Hearst-Argyle, which owns 29 local news stations in the United States, has signed a licensing deal with YouTube that will allow its stations to share in the ad revenue. Hearst-Argyle's stations are affiliated with all the major networks and reach about eighteen percent of the households in the United States.

YouTube will actually pay a licensing fee for news, weather and entertainment from these stations. This is the first time YouTube has struck such a deal.