Lonely Planet Owner NC2 Media Purchases Travel Television Show

Last month Lonely Planet owner NC2 Media purchased the adventure travel program and website Passport to Adventure, bringing the Nashville-based new media company’s travel holdings to three.

Prior to purchasing Lonely Planet, NC2 had OutWildTV, which currently produces two adventure travel series.

Passport to Adventure is a television series that has run on public television stations in the U.S. for nearly two decades. Similar in tone to Rick Steves, the series takes host Julie Conover to destinations such as Loreto, Baja California and Macau. As part of the purchase, Conover will leave the series.

Daniel Houghton, Lonely Planet COO and NC2’s Executive Director told Skift, “The content fit Lonely Planet’s brand and we believe in video as one of the many things that will make up a larger part of the future for Lonely Planet.” Houghton said that “time will tell” whether or not Passport to Adventure will be integrated into either the LP or OutWild offerings.

NC2’s deep pockets put it in a good position to make additional purchases. “We are interested in other segments,” Houghton says. “Travel, food, adventures and expeditions, natural history and potentially others as well. We are in a dynamic market and the opportunities are everywhere; particularly on a global level.”