Qvc

LOS ANGELES -- CBS Inc. Chief Executive Laurence A. Tisch and QVC Inc. Chairman Barry Diller are negotiating to combine their companies in a deal valued at roughly $2 billion, sources close to the talks said yesterday.Under the terms being discussed, CBS would acquire the smaller QVC in a stock swap that would follow a cash payout to CBS shareholders. Mr. Diller would assume control of the combined company, with the 71-year-old Mr. Tisch agreeing to retire upon completion of the merger.The deal would create an entertainment/home shopping conglomerate with strong ties to the cable TV industry and the emerging information superhighway -- and take some investor pressure off of both companies.

The Great Gourmet is Kimberly Scott's way of introducing the world to Maryland seafood. Her Eastern Shore company sells crab cakes, oysters and clams to wholesale and retail markets. In 2006, just three years after opening, The Great Gourmet was logging $1.8 million in revenue. Three years after that, Scott had revenue of $3.8 million, 15 employees and a place on Inc. Magazine's 500/5000 fastest-growing companies list. With her company expanding, Scott turned to Richard Loeffler at the Eastern Region Small Business and Technology Development Center at Salisbury University in 2009 for advice about a small-business loan that would allow her to move from rented space to a building of her own in Federalsburg with more freezer space.

In a deal aimed at putting the cable television magnate John Malone on its team, Comcast Corp. has made Liberty Media a partner in its takeover bid for QVC Inc., the cable television home shopping company.The two companies said yesterday that they would offer $44 a share in cash for QVC's outstanding shares.Comcast, on its own, had offered $44 a share last week. But that offer was seen as less attractive than the new one because it included $37 a share in cash and $7 in Comcast's preferred stock.

For her 95th birthday, Bea Toms single-handedly cooked for nearly 300 people and then appeared on QVC to promote her cookbook, selling out - again. The Frederick great-great-grandmother, who pulls her silvery hair into a bun, who stands 5 feet tall on tiptoes, who cooks with an apron on, who recites inspirational poems by heart and who refers to herself as "just a plain country girl," has sold more than 70,000 copies of the book she published at the...

WILMINGTON, Del. -- In a sweeping victory for QVC Network Inc., the Delaware Supreme Court said yesterday that Paramount Communications Inc. had not been fair to its shareholders when it accepted a takeover offer from Viacom Inc. while blocking a higher bid from QVC.The state's highest court, which handed down its 11-page order only hours after hearing the case, upheld a lower court's decision that struck down a defensive tactic by Paramount that would have...

NEW YORK -- As the midnight deadline neared last night in the long-running takeover battle for Paramount Communications, even executives close to QVC Network conceded that Viacom had apparently won.But even if Viacom has succeeded in its five-month struggle with QVC, there were indications yesterday that the merged Viacom-Paramount might face even greater financial pressures than have been expected.The problems involve Viacom's plan to strengthen its hand by also acquiring Blockbuster Entertainment, the leader in video rentals.

NEW YORK -- After weeks of haggling, lawyers for Paramount Communications and QVC Network Inc. met yesterday morning to discuss QVC's bid for Paramount.It was the first time representatives for the two sides had met officially since QVC commenced a hostile $9.6 billion bid that was roughly comparable to a friendly merger proposal from Viacom Inc.But by all accounts, the two sides were no closer to a rapprochement by the end of the day. In fact, neither Paramount's chairman, Martin S. Davis, or QVC's chairman, Barry Diller, bothered to attend.

NEW YORK -- QVC Inc. approved a $46-per-share takeover of fer yesterday from Tele-Communications Inc. and Comcast Corp. that values the home shopping channel at about $2.53 billion.After spending more than six hours yesterday analyzing and revising details of the deal, the QVC board accepted the all-cash offer for the 35 million shares not already held by Tele-Communications and Comcast. The companies had previously offered $44 a share. QVC has about 55 million shares outstanding.The takeover is expected to be completed within 30 days.

In a last-minute effort to thwart the merger of CBS Inc. and QVC Inc., Comcast Corp. stunned the entertainment industry last night by announcing an uninvited bid to take over QVC.Comcast, the nation's third-largest cable television company and a minority shareholder in QVC, was unhappy that QVC Chairman Barry Diller was aligning his cable television home-shopping channel with a network broadcasting company. Comcast, which owns 15.5 percent of QVC, is reluctant to have an interest in the over-the-air television business.

NEW YORK -- In what could be the final chapter in a long-running and nasty corporate takeover fight, the board of Paramount Communications Inc. agreed yesterday to merge with the partner it had resisted for months: QVC Network Inc.The endorsement of the $10.2 billion takeover offer was particularly bitter medicine for Paramount's chairman, Martin S. Davis, 64, who since September had led his board in rejecting QVC in favor of a friendly bid from Viacom Inc.The...

AirTran adds $15 first-bag charge AirTran Holdings Inc. added a $15 fee for the first checked piece of luggage, joining larger carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc. in charging for the service. The change takes effect for travel on Dec. 5, the Orlando, Fla.-based company said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. The move by AirTran shows that even discount carriers haven't escaped the effects of slowing travel demand and a weakening economy that have forced many airlines to seek new sources of revenue.

Baltimore-based Chesapeake Bay Gourmet, which brought Maryland-style crab cakes to the nation by way of the QVC home shopping network, has acquired a local purveyor of Scottish smoked salmon and other specialty foods. Chesapeake Bay Gourmet's parent company, Atlanta-based Astral Brands LLC and its subsidiary, Astral Foods, has purchased Baltimore-based Mackenzie Ltd., a 16-year-old gourmet catalog company. The deal, which was private, closed June 30. The two brands will continue to operate separately, but under one roof, Steve Cohen, president of Astral Foods, said yesterday.

O'Malley plans trips to Pennsylvania O'Malley Senior Center has announced these trips: Sept. 26, trip to Music in the Manor, Bucks County, Pa., to see Lullaby of Broadway Revue. Cost of trip is $74 and money is due by Aug. 5. Nov. 7, trip to QVC Studios and King of Prussia Mall. Fee is $37, due by Oct. 3. Information and reservations, 410-222-6227. Center announces two trips in August Pascal Senior center has announced these trips: Aug. 10, to the Inner Harbor with buffet at Phillips Restaurant and sightseeing at Top of the World in the World Trade Center.

The routine isn't rehearsed, but after hundreds of appearances on the QVC shopping channel over the past decade, Ron and Margie Kauffman know what they'll say when it comes to the millions of Maryland-style crab cakes they sell under the brand Chesapeake Bay Gourmet. There is plenty of talk about the large lumps of crabmeat, about the company's ties to Maryland and the Chesapeake. On QVC's Web site, the products are labeled "Made in USA." What the carefully worded language omits is one critical fact.

The crab cake company that found stardom on the QVC cable television shopping channel now hopes to find similar success in the restaurant business. Chesapeake Bay Gourmet, the 25-year-old Rosedale company that became a household name after debuting on QVC a decade ago, opened its first restaurant, Chesapeake Bay Crab Cakes & More, last week in Hunt Valley. In opening the restaurant, the first in what it hopes to become a chain, the company is entering a highly competitive market that includes large franchises such as Phillips Seafood Restaurants and dozens of mom-and-pop operations such as Obrycki's in Fells Point.

WEST CHESTER, Pa. -- At the Holiday Inn here in the hometown of QVC, two businessmen with their hair spray-sculpted a la Trent Lott are having breakfast. A Muzak version of "Silver Bells" tinkles in the background, but the air around these two clangs with greedier gold. There is terse talk of "units," and "half a 'mil' of," and "just gimme a price you can live with" until both men smile and shake hands. Ding-dong! Done deal. "You know this hotel is crawling with celebrities," one then whispers to the other.

What if they started making albums in a different way? What if the record company came to you, the buyer, and asked what songs you wanted from an artist?Well, it's happened.QVC, the West Chester, Pa.-based television shopping channel, is currently marketing a two-CD collection of love songs recorded by '70s pop icon Kenny Rogers that originated just that way. In August, QVC asked viewers to send a postcard naming their three favorite romantic songs. Almost 10,000 people responded.The result is Mr. Rogers' "Vote for Love," the first release by the QVC recording label onQ Music.

NEW YORK -- Wall Street gushed last week over the announcement that CBS and QVC were engaged to be merged, but it was not because anyone was convinced the two intendeds were necessarily a perfect match.As John Reidy, a media analyst at Smith Barney, put it: "Forget all the QVC stuff. Barry Diller is the reason this is an awesome deal."That theme was echoed throughout the television industry in the wake of the news that Mr. Diller, the chairman of the home-shopping channel QVC, would become the chief executive CBS after completion of the merger.

Jos. A. Bank Clothiers Inc., the Hampstead-based men's retailer, is spending $2.5 million on an expansive marketing campaign that it hopes will attract new customers and increase visibility as it moves beyond its regional roots. The campaign will include a foray into television shopping, magazine advertisements and an extension of its Internet presence. It's a new direction for the nearly 100-year-old company as it continues with a plan it announced in 2002 to have 500 stores open in five years.

Sales had stalled and Margie and Ron Kauffman considered abandoning the family crab cake business in Dundalk. Then crab cakes met television shopping. The 24-year-old Chesapeake Bay Gourmet recently rung up its 50 millionth crab cake. But about 20 million of them were sold on QVC, the television shopping network. A seven-minute appearance by the Kauffmans hawking their crab cakes on QVC in 1995 helped rejuvenate their business, M&I Seafood. Annual sales of their Chesapeake Bay Gourmet brand have increased fivefold to $15 million from $3 million since that first TV show, and staffing has increased to more than 100 from 20. "It really turned us upside down," Ron Kauffman said of the 24-hour shopping channel that reaches 86 million homes a year.