September 2024
Supplement
HBS Case Collection

National Public Broadcasting (B)

Format:Electronic
| Language:English

Abstract

Pre-abstract: Instructors should consider the timing of making videos available to students, as they may reveal key case details. Abstract: This (B) case supplement is designed for use by faculty only to support classroom instruction in conjunction with "National Public Broadcasting" (HBSP Product #: 211058-PDF-ENG (99A)). Bob Williams, the CEO of National Public Broadcasting (NPB), was considering an unsolicited offer to purchase the company in the early spring of 2006. The company was a media underwriting representative for public television and radio stations throughout the United States. When Williams and his wife Linda Williams started NPB in 1996, they had imagined that it would grow quickly and be acquired by a larger media representation firm in a few years. But the business proved to be more complex than they had anticipated with slower growth and less interest from strategic acquirers and, as a result, Williams had been running NPB ever since. The unsolicited offer gave the Williams and their partners the potential opportunity to realize a significant cash payment for the business.

Keywords

Financial Strategy; Financial Management; Media; Ownership; Strategy; Advertising; Decision Making; Entrepreneurship; Financing and Loans; Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Journalism and News Industry; Media and Broadcasting Industry; United States

Citation

Ruback, Richard S., and Royce Yudkoff. "National Public Broadcasting (B)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 225-706, September 2024.