This story has been updated to clarify sourcing.
The Home Shopping Network, which absolutely still exists, is merging with its longtime competitor QVC in a $2.1 billion deal, The New York Timesreported on July 6. The move gives Liberty Interactive, QVC’s holding company, some power in an otherwise dwindling market.
As the traditional retail market has given way to e-commerce, with Amazon leading the charge, brick-and-mortar retailers have struggled to remain competitive. A similar scenario has plagued television shopping. HSN saw a 3 percent drop in sales last year.
The merging of the two networks follows Liberty Interactive’s broader push to dive into the world of online shopping. HSN’s e-commerce wing accounts for a large share of its revenue growth last year.
As part of the deal, the company, which will be renamed the QVC Group, will go all in on retail for QVC, HSN and Zulily, an e-commerce site that Liberty acquired in 2015.
A vestige of a bygone era, the television shopping networks of the past will have to bring everything they’ve got if they hope to wrestle with Amazon.
