Disney & Hearst Looking To Sell A+E Networks

July 8, 2025 Roger Palmer

With the traditional linear television business in free fall, as audiences shift from cable to streaming, numerous changes are underway throughout the industry. Both Comcast and Warner Bros. Discovery are exploring the potential spin-off of their linear television businesses into separate companies.

While Disney CEO Bob Iger floated the idea of selling some of the companies linear assets a couple of years ago, it’s been very firm on the idea that the linear channels like ABC, FX, National Geographic and the Disney Channel are a core part of their business, helping them funnel content into their streaming services, Hulu and Disney+.

However, Disney also has another major asset within the traditional linear television business, A+E Networks, where it co-owns 50% with Hearst.

According to Variety, Disney and Hearst have brought in investment banking firm, Wells Fargo, to handle the sale of A+E Networks, which includes Lifetime Movie Network, FYI and Vice TV. Other assets include A+E Studios, A+E Factual Studio, A&E IndieFilms, and A+E Global Media Digital. Plus it also has a variety of streaming platforms and FAST channels operating.

It’s unclear what this will mean for the future of A+E Networks, as it could be sold off entirely or in parts. Or if the company will be sold at all.

While Disney has incorporated its own studios like ABC, FX and 20th Television directly into Disney+ and Hulu, with A+E Network content, it’s still less frequent. There is plenty of A+E content available on Hulu and Disney+, but it has never been fully integrated in the same way as its other studios.

Disney has been making lots of significant changes to its assets, including creating a partnership with Reliance Industries to run its Indian business and is set to finalise a deal with Comcast to acquire the remaining third of Hulu later this month, in addition to going into partnership with Fubo TV, to merge its Hulu+Live TV businesses together. The addition of revenue from the sale of A+E Networks could significantly help Disney balance its books or provide it with more funds to invest in other areas, such as its theme parks, cruise lines, or other businesses.

It’s also worth noting that A+E Global Media is privately owned and doesn’t disclose any financial results, so we are unlikely to get updates on the situation from quarterly reports or other required filings.

The big question is, which company would be interested in the A+E Network assets? Either way, should the studios get sold off, we are likely going to see A+E content eventually move off Disney+ and Hulu, unless a new licensing agreement is made with potential new owners.

There are several alternative ways Disney could utilise the sale of its stake in A+E, as Disney and Hearst could also potentially split the company’s assets if required. Hearst also owns 20% of ESPN, so this could also be a way for Disney to buy out its stake in the sports brand and gain complete control as part of an asset swap.

A+E Network has been licensing its content to as many places as possible, so there may be potential companies out there that want to tap into that. However, it’s also telling that Disney doesn’t seem to want to have full access to the suite of lower-budget content.

Personally, since Disney has been trying to focus on creating fewer, but better original content for its platforms, the sale of A+E Networks would simplify its television business, especially as linear television viewership continues to decline. It may simply be looking at a way of offloading these linear channels while they are still worth something, rather than getting left holding channels with no viewers in decades to come. Either way, A+E content on Disney+ and Hulu probably isn’t going to be available indefinitely.