Broadway Video Acquires TV Books

Posted on December 19, 1997

Broadway Video, Inc., producers of "Saturday Night Live" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien," announced that it has acquired a majority interest in TV Books, L.L.C., publishers of television companion books.

Peter B. Kaufman, founder of TV Books, will serve as President and Publisher. Albert Gottesman, formerly of Jim Henson Productions, Inc., will serve as Director of Rights and Business Affairs. The transaction was brokered by Pamela Meyer's Manhattan Studios, a New York firm specializing in strategic media investment.

TV Books publishes nonfiction books from documentaries, entertainment books from popular network programming, and vintage television tie-ins from TV we all know and love. "Much of the finest intellectual property in the world is developed for American television. Our book publishing company excels in taking that property and putting it into print," publisher Kaufman explained. "As a leading media company with branches in television, film and the worldwide web, Broadway Video brings a sophisticated understanding of the licensing business and the entertainment industry in general. TV Books could not ask for a better investor and partner," Kaufman said.

HarperCollins Publishers, a division of News Corporation , also announced that it will provide exclusive sales and distribution services for TV Books in the United States and Canada. "TV Books has a uniquely focused, marketing-driven list. We are looking forward to working with them and expanding the reach of TV Books in North America," said Joe Kiener, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of HarperCollins. The deal is effective January 2, 1998, for three years.