TV Guide Is Sold for One Dollar

No, I don't mean that a copy of TV Guide sold for $1 at the grocery store checkout, I mean that the company that publishes TV Guide sold for a single dollar, just a fraction of the actual magazine's newsstand price.

Sound implausible that the 3.2 million subscriber magazine sold for the price of a pack of gum? TV Guide Magazine's owner, Macrovision Solutions (MVSN), disclosed in an SEC filing that it sold the publication to OpenGate Capital, for just $1, also agreeing to loan OpenGate up to $9.5 million at 3 percent interest -- which sounds like a pretty great deal in this credit market. The deal is expected to close December 1. (Don't believe me? Here's the SEC filing.)

Macrovision isn't just giving assets away. As part of the deal, OpenGate is assuming certain liabilities from the TV Guide business. The magazine is expected to lose some $20 million this year, having lost even more in recent years. And Macrovision has been planning to sell the magazine since it bought Gemstar-TV Guide in January, buying the company for the technology that drives TV Guide's electronics listings guide and it's oh-so-powerful brand.

Macrovision is also looking to sell the TV Guide Channel cable channel, but hasn't found any buyers. In related news, Needham downgraded Macrovision Friday from "Strong buy" to "Buy." For historical perspective: this is hardly the first time a company has been slapped with a $1 price tag (plus hefty debt). In 1982 Scripps (SCP) sold United Press International for a dollar to two entrepreneurs. Here's a book review from the New York Times that chronicles that journalism institution's trajectory.