ICM buys TV news and sports talent agency Headline Media Management
Talent agency ICM Partners has acquired Headline Media Management, a New York-based firm that represents on-air personalities and producers in TV news and sports.
In the equity deal announced Wednesday, Headline Chief Executive Lou Oppenheim and its president, Michael Glantz, will join ICM as partners and head up a new broadcasting department at ICM.
Headline’s client list includes “Today” co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, ESPN’s Chris Berman, Meredith Vieira and Keith Hernandez, the former Major League Baseball star who announces games for the New York Mets on the cable network SNY. Headline had previously worked with ICM on projects for Vieira’s production company.
Headline becomes the latest agency serving TV news and sports talent to join forces with a larger West Coast firm. Bienstock Agency, which represents Fox News star Bill O’Reilly and CNN’s Anderson Cooper, was acquired by UTA in 2014. CAA has built up its stable of TV news stars, recently representing former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in her deal to join NBC.
Headline’s partners agreed to become part of ICM so they could have the scale to compete with the bigger players who have entered their turf. For ICM, the deal is an entry point into the news and TV sports business, as Headline’s clients will move with the company’s partners.
“Lou and Michael have built an incredibly successful business representing clients at the forefront of sports and news broadcasting,” said ICM Partners’ Chris Silbermann and Ted Chervin in a joint statement. “Their client-first approach to representation perfectly aligns with the way we run our company.”
Headline Media Management was formed in 2004 but has operated for more than 35 years under a succession of names: Athletes & Artists, Marquee Group and SFX Media Group. Oppenheim began his career there in 1981 and became a partner in 1985. Glantz started his career in the newsroom at WCBS-TV in New York and segued into positions at WNEV-TV Boston, MTV, WNBC-TV and NBC News. He represented news and sports broadcasters at IMG before joining Athletes & Artists in 1990, where he met Oppenheim.
Twitter: @SteveBattaglio
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