CORE Media Group, the parent company behind "American Idol" and other reality fare, is expanding its portfolio with the acquisition of Sharp Media, the production company responsible for Travel Channel's "Man V. Food," TLC's "Extreme Couponing" and other unscripted series.
CORE president Marc Graboff and Sharp founder and CEO Matt Sharp announced the acquisition plans Monday. Sharp, who will remain the CEO of his company, called the merger "the perfect fit" for his business.
“This is a perfect fit for our company, and the right time to make this move,” Sharp said. “Our partnership with CORE Media will broaden our opportunities to exploit and distribute our products by aligning us with a company that is rapidly expanding, hungry for new business and nimble enough to get deals done, all the while allowing us to continue to focus on what we do best, which is produce great content for an array of networks and audiences.”
Graboff added that the acquisition of Sharp is part of an ongoing plan for CORE's expansion, and will offer "countless possibilities."
“This announcement is another step in our efforts to expand the breadth of our content offerings and align CORE with some of the industry’s most talented and innovative producers,” said Graboff. “By combining the quality content that Sharp is producing with our expertise and assets in licensing, merchandising and integrated marketing, we see countless possibilities in this exciting partnership.”
CORE, which launched in May as a rebrand of CKx entertainment, counts among its assets "American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance," as well as representing the brands of Elvis Presley and Muhammad Ali.
Along with "Man V. Food" and "Extreme Couponing," Sharp produces National Geographic's "Doomsday Preppers" and Animal Planet's "Call of the Wildman."
