• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, 5 hours ago

Walt Disney has now agreed to sell its 50% A+E Global Media stake to Hearst, the other 50% partner in the cable group, for $1.2 billion.

The deal begs the question of what comes next for A+E, as well as other mostly midsized independent cable TV network groups.

One could make the claim more streaming and digital deals are the answer. But it may be a bit more complicated. Think about public and privately owned other groups such as AMC Global Media (public) and Hallmark Media (private).

We have already seen AMC Global Media continuing to make big deals like the recent $500 million pact with Netflix for AMC’s core brand, “The Walking Dead,” around the franchise’s seven TV series.

Hallmark Media continued to work its Hallmark Channel as regular viewership performing top five or so cable TV networks, as well as its still growing core Hallmark+ streaming platform.

Hallmark Media continues to do well -- especially among its annual holiday-focus efforts around the Hallmark Channel, which it has programmed and promoted for many years. It can grab around 1.2% share of total TV and streaming viewership in peak season, according to Nielsen.

That said, Hallmark Channel continues to get hit with broader year-over-year viewing declines -- around 10%, which is comparable to the rest of the industry.

Hallmark, AMC, and others continue to see slow-moving gains from its streaming platforms (Hallmark+ and AMC+) over the years, according to Antenna research. In a related move Hallmark has a big content-hub agreement with NBCU’s Peacock.

Instead of launching what could be a massively expensive streaming platform, A+E went in a different streaming direction -- making deals with FAST channels such as The Roku Channel and Pluto TV. It also has a big channel presence on YouTube.

All this has helped it grow when it comes to reach, with 30% to 40% of its FAST audience coming from viewers who are not pay-cable TV bundle customers.

Going forward, Madison & Wall defines another opportunity.

“Half of A+E’s financial results have flowed into Disney’s reported earnings and presumably Disney would have had limited appetite for further investment in A+E... A+E may be better positioned to evolve after the transaction closes in September.”

Disney does offer a dedicated A&E Network Hub on Hulu. In addition, Hulu on Disney+ allows viewers to consume high-profile A&E shows like “American Pickers” and “Duck Dynasty.”

To a great extent, A+E operated independently through the years as a stand-alone business, especially when it came to new programming.

Perhaps new increased production efforts will be coming -- or perhaps more and bigger streaming deals.