Government Gives All Clear To Discovery/All3 Deal

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The Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission are OK with Discovery and Liberty Global's $930 million 50-50 joint venture to acquire All3 Media

That is according to an early termination list released by the FTC Wednesday. That means the government does not have any antitrust issues with the deal that would prompt it to apply conditions or seek to block it in court.

All3Media is billed as the largest UK independent production group whose brands include Undercover Boss and Ramsay's kitchen Nightmares. Mike Fries, CEO of Liberty Global, has described the deal as a smart strategic play given increased competition for content, including non-linear rights.

And there is a lot of content in All3Media

According to Discovery, the ALL3Media group comprises 19 production and distribution companies in the U.K., Europe, New Zealand and the U.S. They are Apollo20, Bentley Productions, Company Pictures, IDTV, John Stanley Productions, Lime Pictures, Lion Television, Little Dot Studios, Maverick Television, MME Moviement, Morocco Junction, North One Television, Objective Productions, Optomen, One Potato Two Potato, South Pacific Pictures, Studio Lambert, Zoo Productions, ALL3MEDIA AMERICA and ALL3MEDIA International.

John Eggerton
John Eggerton

Contributing editor John Eggerton has been an editor and/or writer on media regulation, legislation and policy for over four decades, including covering the FCC, FTC, Congress, the major media trade associations, and the federal courts. In addition to Multichannel News and Broadcasting + Cable, his work has appeared in Radio World, TV Technology, TV Fax, This Week in Consumer Electronics, Variety and the Encyclopedia Britannica.