By Carolyn Giardina
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --Liberty Media Corp. (NYSE: L, LMC.B), headquartered in Englewood, has announced plans to spin off a separate company comprised of its ownership interests in Santa Monica-headquartered Ascent Media Group and Discovery Communications. Ascent is the parent company of such commercial postproduction brands as Company 3 (Santa Monica and New York), R!OT (Santa Monica, New York and Atlanta), Method (Santa Monica), Filmcore (Santa Monica and San Francisco), Encore (Hollywood) and Rushes (London).
The transaction–expected to occur during the second quarter of this year–is intended to be tax-free to shareholders and Liberty Media, and would create a new publicly-traded company called Discovery Holding Company (DHC).
This would once again make this group of companies a publicly traded entity. In May 2003, Liberty purchased the remaining shares of then publicly-traded Ascent, making it a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media.
Formerly known as Liberty Livewire Corp., Ascent was formed as a result of the 2000 and ’01 acquisition of The Todd-AO Corp, Four Media Company, Video Services Corp, certain operations of SounDelux Entertainment Group and several other businesses engaged in creative and technical media services.
Per the new plan, DHC will be comprised of Liberty Media’s 100 percent ownership interest in Ascent Media as well as its 50 percent ownership stake in Discovery. In the spin-off, record holders of Liberty Media Series A and Series B common stock would receive 0.05 of a share of the corresponding series of DHC common stock for each share of Liberty Media common stock held by them as of the record date (which has not been set). Cash will be delivered in lieu of fractional share interests.Nikki Baker Becomes CEO At Fallon
Fallon has appointed Nikki Baker as its new CEO. Baker, who joined the creative agency in 2018 and has served as co-chief creative officer with Leslie Shaffer since 2021, succeeds Rocky Novak, who has been in the role since 2019.
Baker’s promotion to CEO comes at a time of significant momentum for the agency, including six consecutive years of growth and award-winning work.
Baker’s recent career highlights include creatively leading the Walmart partnership with the Publicis Groupe team and spearheading innovative campaigns such as the award-winning “RomCommerce” 23-episodic series and the internet-breaking Mean Girls campaign, among hundreds of other campaigns together with the brand over the past few years. Together with Shaffer, Baker has also been instrumental in elevating Fallon’s creative output for longstanding clients like Arby’s, Mattress Firm, and Front Door/American Home Shield.
“I’ve always been an admirer of Fallon, even before I joined. The chance to lead the agency is an absolute honor. Fallon is a place like no other with amazing talent and a legacy of building big, innovative, creative ideas,” said Baker. “Rocky has represented the best of Fallon. He’s been a great leader, and I couldn’t be more excited to take the reins and lead the agency through to the next chapter. With creativity at our core, we’re going to be as ambitious as ever, push boundaries, and continue embracing emerging platforms to deliver work that truly resonates in culture.”
Prior to joining Fallon six years ago, Baker held positions as creative director and art director at agencies including DDB and GSD&M, working with major brands such as McDonald’s, Southwest Airlines, and Wrigley. Her work has been recognized by... Read More