TS News - HSN Buys H.O.T. Stake

• From: martyn@twics.com (Martyn Williams)
• Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 12:22:42 +0900
• From owner-ts-news@tele-satellit.com Tue Oct 15 23: 28:46 1996

TELE-satellit News, 16 October 1996

HSN Buys H.O.T. Stake
  NEW YORK, New York, USA, 96/10/15 (SatND) -- One of the largest U.S.
shopping channels, Home Shopping Network (HSN,) will take a 29 percent stake
in Germany's Home Order Television (H.O.T.). The company's other
shareholders will reduce their stakes respectively. Through them, H.O.T. is
closely connected to the free-to-air station Pro Sieben while officially not
being part of their mini media empire.

  H.O.T. holds only an "experimental" license because home shopping channels
are not allowed under German as well as European law. The channel, which is
mainly distributed via ASTRA, claims it has attracted more than 75,000
customers so far. For 1996, revenues of DM65 million are expected.

  HSN's main rival, QVC, circumvented European legislation by claiming it
actually owned all the products it sells on its English language ASTRA
channel. QVC also applied for a license in Germany's most populous partial
state Northrhine-Westphalia back in January. A clever move, as H.O.T. got
its license from Bavaria. Both states fight to attract media companies and
hence, of course, tax revenues.

  By: Peter Klanowski
  Source: SatND

(c)TELE-satellit 1996. All rights reserved.

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