Business View Magazine
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consumer preferences changed, Time Life switched to
selling cassettes and then to CDs in the mid-80’s. In
time, documentary videos and Classic TV offerings be-
gan making their appearance and were added to the
company’s portfolio of products first via VHS and then
via DVD formats.
In 2003, Time Life was acquired by Zelnick Media and
Ripplewood Holdings and was renamed Direct Hold-
ings Global, an entertainment and multi-channel mar-
keting firm that took on the old company’s brand with
the aim of building upon its successful business mod-
el, while simultaneously attempting to grow its reach
via the infusion of new products and new ways of get-
ting those products to its customers.
“Over the last 55 years, the business has evolved
dramatically,” says Chris Hearing, President of Direct
Holdings Global. “We are, today, a hundred million dol-
lar, multi-channel marketer. We sell entertainment,
lifestyle products, and entertainment experiences all
through a sophisticated multi-channel marketing strat-
egy. It’s largely TV-driven, but we’ve also got a signifi-
cant digital business. We sell through home shopping
channels; we sell retail; and we have international dis-
tribution.
Hearing explains the components of the privately-held
company. “There are really three businesses, or three
separate product lines,” he says. “One is classic enter-
tainment – the Time Life-branded product. Our core
business, today – probably 60 percent of our revenue
base is under the Time Life brand. That’s the music
product and classic TV DVDs – the nostalgic enter-
tainment. Some of our biggest products, today, are a
Classic Love Songs of Rock and Roll, an Easy Listening
Collection, the Complete Carol Burnett Variety Show
Collection, all the Bob Hope Specials, and Hee-Haw.”
“The second business,” Hearing continues, “is called
the Lifestyle Products Group which sells, via that same
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Direct Holdings Global
WHAT:
A direct marketer of unique music, video,
and lifestyle products, as well as a live entertain-
ment producer
WHERE:
Headquarters in Fairfax, Virginia
WEBSITE
:
