QVC Group Inc. — more aware than most that the world is always ready to change the channel — is looking to make only a short stop in bankruptcy court so it can get back to reinventing a TV business that’s been trying to go online.
The company, which filed for Chapter 11 protection on Thursday and operates both QVC and HSN, said in court filings that it could wrap up the process as quickly as in under two months.
That might be ambitious, but the need for speed is clear.
QVC Group has already spent eight months negotiating with lenders and other stakeholders, setting the stage to restructure its $6.5 billion in funded debt obligations.
The company said it has a Restructuring Support Agreement with lenders that allows for it to pay all its vendors in full and that there are no planned layoffs or furloughs tied to the bankruptcy.
The consumer-facing business is operating as usual.
“Speed is key, particularly with the extensive creditor support for this balance-sheet restructuring,” said Bill Wafford, chief financial and administrative officer of QVC Group, in a declaration to the court. “A prolonged Chapter 11 would unnecessarily result in larger administrative claims and greater risk to customer and supplier confidence.”
The company is also itching to keep reinventing.
While industry observers pegged the company’s financial decline on its failure to move quickly enough from television shopping to digital, it is underway now.
And Wafford’s declaration offers an insider’s perspective on how the company has sought to pivot even as it prepared for a bankruptcy.
When QVC and HSN got their start, they were quick to embrace new ideas and showed at times explosive growth.
In 1977, Lowell Paxson started selling goods directly to customers through an AM radio station in Clearwater, Fla. By 1982, he had switched to TV and was broadcasting live, 24 hours a day. Joseph Segel’s QVC launched in 1986 and was what Wafford described as “an instant success,” reaching 7.6 million homes and, by 1988, breaking the record for how fast an American public company could hit $100 million in sales.
But now, buying from the comfort of one’s couch is commonplace and there are so many other places for consumers to spend their money.
The home shopping networks tied the knot in 2017 looking for protection in scale, but it wasn’t enough.
As of the filing, QVC and HSN reach about 88 million homes through five television channels, serving up to 20 hours of live programs a day, every day except for Christmas.
The company employs 15,800 people, counted 10.3 million unique customers last year, took 70 million customer calls and shipped 182 million units globally — driving more than $9 billion in sales for 2025.
That’s a big business, but the challenge for QVC will be figuring out how that business fits into the future.
Wafford pointed to a crucial proofpoint that the company’s skills transfer over.
“QVC Group launched the first-ever 24/7 livestream programming on TikTok in April 2025, quickly becoming a top seller on TikTok Shop in the United States, acquiring over 1 million new customers on TikTok in 2025 alone,” he said.
Wafford also said that the company’s streaming services have 1.3 million monthly average users and that its television broadcasts continue to engage customers, with 91 percent of sales coming from repeat customers.
“While QVC Group’s growth opportunities abound, it will take time for the business to fully realize these new potential cash flows,” he said. “At the same time, QVC Group’s business based on linear TV continues to face industry headwinds. Linear TV is in decline. Consumers reallocating time to social platforms are cancelling their paid TV subscriptions — a trend known as ‘cord cutting.’”
QVC Group might want to race through bankruptcy, but its race won’t be over when it gets to the other side as it will need to continue to keep pushing forward.
