NewBay Media Acquires Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Reed Business Media has sold Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News and This Week in Consumer Electronics to NewBay Media, part of the private equity firm Wicks Group. The deal adds to the changes among media-business trade magazines, which have struggled in the recession. Nielsen Business Media seems near a deal to sell The Hollywood Reporter, Adweek, Billboard and other titles to Pluribus Capital Partners, comprising News Communications CEO James Finkelstein, former Hearst International publisher George Green and former Wired publisher Matthew Doull. But the Reed deal also concludes a sale effort that had left staff in limbo since July, when Reed Business put the titles and several others on the block. Reed Business parent Reed Elsevier had actually said in February 2008 that it was seeking new owners for the whole business-news division, explaining that it wanted to get away from business models that rely on ad sales. But offers didn't match its expectations, and Reed Elsevier eventually decided to keep certain titles including Variety. NewBay, for its part, seems committed to print. It publishes more than 40 publications focused on pro audio, broadcast and video, musical instruments, consumer electronics and education. "With this acquisition, NewBay adds significant depth and breadth to its existing portfolio of broadcast properties, including TV Technology and Television Broadcast, and consumer electronic properties, including Residential Systems," NewBay CEO Steve Palm said in a statement. NewBay is planning to keep most of the employees at its new properties, staffers were told today, although offers won't go out until the end of this month.

NewBay Media Acquires Broadcasting & Cable, Multichannel News

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