Amazon Eyes TV Home Shopping Network Buy

Amazon recently announced it had over 100 million registered Amazon Prime customers.

So, of course, they’re looking for more in areas they’ve never ventured before — like TV home shopping.

According to news from TechCrunch, Amazon is in acquisition talks with Evine Live, the operator of the eponymous cable home shopping channel.

Amazon is not the only suspected suitor to Evine — a firm publicly traded on the Nasdaq with a $53 million market cap. A group headed by Segel Vision made a purchase offer for an enterprise value of $175 million, but eventually that group gave up after its offers were rebuffed several times.

When TechCrunch reached out to Segel Co-Founders Jim Morrison and Marvin Segel concerning the failed acquisition, they responded, “We do not know of any other interest in Evine,” noting the company’s lackluster financial performance. “This is not the stock movement of a company being looked at.”

Neither Amazon nor Evine have commented on the rumor.

If you haven’t heard of Evine, it’s likely because it’s smaller than its two much larger and better-known rivals — HSN and QVC.

Nevertheless, the company has found its way into 87 million homes across the U.S., in addition to a website and apps. Last quarter, the company reported revenues of $193 million with a net income of $6.4 million.

Evine is not the leading player in its space, but it does come loaded with deals to broadcast into a multitude of local pay TV markets, an audience of TV viewers who are already shopping. The backing of Amazon and its massive audience might even draw new players onto the Evine platform.

There is some evidense that Amazon is readying itself for an Evine-like addition, as it made a largely undereported acquisition of a firm called STARTEK. Although CEO Jeff Bezos is a fan of the show of a similar name, the business is actually a call center operator and engagement outsourcing specialist, which focuses on cable TV, telecom and retail.

At the time of the deal, STARTEK would only say that it was engaged in “commercial services” for Amazon.