EWTN to acquire The National Catholic Register

EWTN, the global Catholic broadcasting network founded by Mother Angelica, has reached an agreement to purchase the National Catholic Register.

The National Catholic Register-- not to be confused with the National Catholic Reporter, another weekly publication with a very different editorial outlook-- has been owned since 1995 by the Legionaries of Christ. With the Legionaries experiencing financial difficulties in the wake of revelations about their founder, the late Father Marcial Maciel, the newspaper was placed on the market. The sale to EWTN will not involve any cash payment; EWTN will assume the paper's subscription liabilities.
Read the full report here.

Another report calls the EWTN move to buy out The National Catholic Register a 'providential intervention' and gives more detail on the causes of the Register's financial difficulties:
The need for the providential intervention by EWTN was precipitated by what Legionary Father Owen Kearns, the Register’s publisher and editor in chief, described as a “perfect storm.” That storm, not dissimilar to what has hit most print publications, was intensified by rising publishing and mailing costs, and the negative impact on Register donations from the downturn in the economy, all of which overwhelmed the Legion’s ability to continue to subsidize the costs of producing the newspaper and managing its website.

Question from yours truly:  would EWTN ever buy The National Catholic Reporter?