The New York Times announced last week that it would sell its $100-million investment in the Discovery Times channel back to its partner in the founding of the project, Discovery Communications, the New York Observer writes (via MediaBuyerPlanner). In the memo announcing the sale, the Times said that much had changed since the joint venture began three years ago, and "it has become clear that our investment dollar is better spent developing video for our own nytimes.com."

Times's CEO, Janet Robinson, told analysts that the company decided to withdraw from the partnership in order to focus on short-form programming for the internet, saying, "Advertisers are really coveting that," writes Yahoo.

Discovery plans to "keep the channel going in its present form," according to the memo.