Pearson Television – which produces well-known games shows such as The Price Is Right – is to give online rights for several game shows to E-Pub Holdings in exchange for a stake in the New York-based online entertainment company. The British media giant will acquire 10.9% of E-Pub, which, in return, will hold exclusive rights for two years to Family Feud, Match Game and Password. It will further strengthen the position of Pearson as the world’s largest possessor of game show formats. The move represents Pearson’s latest foray into the online market, but at 80,000 pounds ($130,500) for the 50,000 shares, it’s still only a small venture. E-Pub, whose web site Uproar is among the 30 most visited on the internet, specializes in the creation, marketing and development of online game shows. At the time of the announcement, the company’s shares on the Vienna Stock Exchange rose 15%, putting the value of the company at 197m euros ($236.6m). Pearson ensured though that The Price Is Right, which Roy Addison, Director of External Communications at Pearson, described as the company’s jewel in the crown, will be kept safely at home. It is not the first time Pearson has dabbled its fingers in the online pond. The company made an abortive entry into the market in 1994 with the purchase of Software Toolworks, a California-based games and software firm with a European arm called Mindscape. Addison labeled the move as a spectacular failure. At the time, Mindscape was thought by industry experts to be overpriced by 100m pounds. The company proceeded to turn in losses for four years until it was sold in 1998.
