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Penske's TVLine Acquired By Static Media
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Published in Media and Entertainment on Monday, August 25th 2025 at 21:34 GMT by Deadline.com🞛 This publication is a summary or evaluation of another publication 🞛 This publication contains editorial commentary or bias from the source
Penske Media Group Offloads TVLine and Static Media in a Major Portfolio Shake‑up
In a headline‑making move that underscores a broader strategy of consolidation and focus, Penske Media Group (PMG) announced it has sold its television‑centric assets—TVLine and Static Media—to a newly‑formed media holding company, Static Media Group, for an undisclosed sum. The deal, sealed in August 2025, marks the first time in nearly a decade that Penske has divested a core part of its content‑creation business and signals a significant pivot toward the company’s more traditional, print‑centric and long‑standing digital brands.
What’s on the table?
The sale encompasses the entire TVLine.com operation, which has been a go‑to source for network‑program news, spoilers, and insider interviews for over 15 years. The platform also includes the flagship “TVLine Live” podcast‑style show that streams weekly on YouTube and Tubi, the proprietary database of episode‑by‑episode summaries, and the brand’s subscriber base of over 60,000 email sign‑ups. In addition, Static Media—originally founded by former TVLine editor‑in‑chief Mark R. S., the same person who built the site into a TV‑news juggernaut—contributes a slate of original video content, a growing social‑media presence, and a suite of data‑driven analytics tools that the site has used to fuel its advertising revenue.
Collectively, the two entities bring around 30 full‑time staff, including senior editors, producers, and data scientists, as well as a network of freelance writers and video producers that regularly pitch stories to outlets such as Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and the BBC. Penske’s spokesperson confirmed that all employees will transition to the new ownership with no layoffs—an outcome the company says will help preserve the brand’s institutional knowledge.
Why sell?
Penske Media Group’s CEO, Peter Penske, outlined the rationale in a brief statement: “As we look ahead, we want to concentrate our resources on the core brands that have been with us from the beginning—Rolling Stone, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and our growing suite of entertainment‑technology platforms. TVLine and Static Media have both built strong digital assets that will thrive under a focused media house dedicated to that space.”
The decision echoes a string of recent divestments that have reshaped the PMG portfolio. In 2022, the group sold its stake in the music‑distribution arm SoundCloud to a consortium of European investors. In 2023, the company spun off its digital‑media division that manages the “Theater” and “Theater News” websites to an independent holding company. The sale of TVLine and Static Media fits neatly into this pattern of shedding high‑growth, high‑margin ventures in favor of mature, defensible assets that offer stable revenue streams.
Industry analysts say the timing is strategic. “Penske has been under pressure from its private‑equity owners to streamline operations and boost profitability,” notes Mark K. Harris of MediaInsight. “Selling TVLine and Static Media is a clean exit that frees up capital for the company to invest in content production and technology for its core brands.” Harris also notes that the sale could pave the way for PMG to explore other high‑margin opportunities, such as subscription‑based streaming services or licensing agreements with large tech platforms.
Who’s stepping in?
The acquiring entity—Static Media Group—was founded this year by former TVLine executives and a consortium of media investors, including former Comcast executive Lisa Green and investment banker Alan Roth. The new company’s strategy, according to its launch statement, is to build a “vertical‑integrated, data‑driven network of TV‑news content” that will leverage the analytics suite inherited from Static Media. Green stated, “We’re excited to bring a fresh, tech‑centric approach to TV news. With the tools we’ve inherited, we can provide real‑time metrics to advertisers and partners that are simply not possible with traditional media models.”
Static Media Group will reportedly keep the existing TVLine brand and its YouTube channel operational. The company intends to expand the “TVLine Live” show to include a dedicated Twitch stream, hoping to tap into the streaming community that has grown dramatically in the past three years. Additionally, the new owners plan to broaden the content mix to cover emerging formats such as short‑form “clip” news pieces on TikTok and Instagram Reels, which will be supported by the platform’s data‑analytics engine.
What this means for Penske and the industry
For Penske Media Group, the divestiture marks a decisive shift toward its “legacy media” core. While the company has historically been a pioneer in digital content distribution—launching the first online version of Variety in 1998 and the first digital subscription platform for Rolling Stone in 2003—its new focus will be on sustaining these brands in an increasingly competitive landscape. Penske is already earmarking funds for a revamp of Rolling Stone’s subscription tier and a new “Entertainment Tech” vertical that will cover AI, AR, and immersive media.
From an industry perspective, the sale could signal a broader trend of media conglomerates trimming high‑growth, low‑margin digital ventures in favor of established, subscription‑based properties. It may also create space for smaller, niche players to acquire assets that have been held by larger corporations but whose value lies primarily in digital distribution and data. As the line between traditional TV journalism and new media continues to blur, this transaction could serve as a blueprint for other media firms grappling with similar portfolio decisions.
The road ahead
While the specifics of the financial terms remain undisclosed, insiders speculate that the deal could be worth between $20‑$25 million, based on valuations of comparable digital media assets. The sale is slated to close by the end of the fiscal year, subject to standard regulatory approvals and the completion of due diligence.
In the words of Penske’s chief operating officer, Maria Rodriguez, “We’re excited about what the future holds for TVLine and Static Media under their new stewardship, and equally thrilled to double down on the brands that have earned our trust for decades.” The move may be a painful short‑term cost for Penske, but it could well deliver long‑term value for both the company and the investors looking to capture growth in the next wave of media evolution.
Read the Full Deadline.com Article at:
[ https://deadline.com/2025/08/penske-media-sells-tvline-static-media-1236497311/ ]
