A $3 Billion Gamble

Rupert Murdoch's TV Guide coup will bring him more power -- and debt

Can two magazines and a daily racing-tip sheet be worth billions of dollars? Maybe so, if the buyer is Keith Rupert Murdoch. Last week the Australian-born press baron agreed to buy Triangle Publications, which puts out TV Guide (circ. 17.1 million), the Daily Racing Form (123,000) and Seventeen (1.9 million), from Walter Annenberg, the California businessman and philanthropist, for $3 billion. While TV Guide may be the undisputed king of television listings and boast the largest circulation of any U.S. magazine, media experts concur that Murdoch is paying a premium price that will add to his already considerable debt load. But...

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