• by David Kaplan , April 5, 2005

Steve Case, the founder of America Online and the former chairman of Time Warner Inc., announced Monday that he had purchased the assets of Wisdom Media Group's television and radio network, which features health and wellness programming fare.

Case, still on the Time Warner board, also announced the formation of an investment group, Revolution, to hold the assets of the network. He will control Revolution, and provide $500 million in investment capital.

The goal is to build a healthy balance sheet for Revolution by expanding WMG's programming from strictly health to one encompassing "lifestyle" programming, a Revolution spokesman said.

"The health and wellness category hasn't yet hit its tipping point, but Wisdom Media is an attractive vehicle for reaching and uniting a now-fragmented audience that already accounts for $230 billion in annual consumer spending," said Case, currently the chairman and CEO of Revolution, through a spokesman.

Wisdom Media is currently distributed by Echostar and Comcast as a digital cable network and as a video-on-demand service. It's also offered by Sirius Satellite Radio as a radio channel, and as online. It was launched in 1998 by Bill Turner--no relation to Case's former Time Warner colleague.

As part of the purchase, WMG will move its headquarters from Bluefield, West Virginia to New York. The new management team includes industry veterans former Home Box Office executive Lee deBoer as Chairman; former Oxygen Media Sales and Marketing President C.J. Kettler as CEO; and former About.com Vice President for Finance Robert W. Harris as CFO.

New York-based Propeller Partners LLC, a media advisory team, consulted with Revolution on the deal, while Daniels and Associates advised Wisdom Media Holdings, Inc. Propeller will continue to be an investor in WMG.