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Comcast Exploring Spinoff of NBCU Cable Networks Into New Company

tall_guy1 said:
Why would NBC want to get rid of msnbc? They are one of the top cable stations that still actually get watched. They are only down now because people are temporarily fatigued, but once Trump returns to office, they will return.
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CNBC and MSNBC should have been available on Peacock by now. Doesn't the spinoff mean that's even less likely to happen anytime soon? That seems like bad news for those channels, being stuck exclusively on a distribution platform that is going the wrong way fast.

Or am I wrong? Could it break the exclusive contracts those channels have with cable and give them a faster path to streaming? Comcast is one of the biggest cable companies but they also own Peacock. Do they want to keep the channels on cable only to help their cable business?
 
Theater of My Mind said:
CNBC and MSNBC should have been available on Peacock by now. The spinoff probably means that's even less likely to happen anytime soon. That seems like bad news for those channels, being stuck exclusively on a distribution platform that is going the wrong way fast.
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I don't know about CNBC, but MSNBC has been creating a lot of video podcasts over the last few years that seem to be attracting viewers. It's the same kind of on-demand content that usually populates streaming sites like Peacock.
 
TheBigA said:
I don't know about CNBC, but MSNBC has been creating a lot of video podcasts over the last few years that seem to be attracting viewers. It's the same kind of on-demand content that usually populates streaming sites like Peacock.
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Some MSNBC shows are available on Peacock the next day. But that doesn't work so well when the news is at least a day old by the time you can stream it.
 
Weiserguy said:
Clips from recent (same day) MSNBC programs usually show up on Youtube within an hour or two of airing.
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That's still not the same as being able to watch live news, and there is a heavy emphasis on breaking news even during the primetime opinion shows. Also, how does putting them on YouTube help Comcast with Peacock subscriptions?
 
Here's the announcement:

www.nbcnews.com

Comcast announces plan to spin off cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC and USA

The new company will also include Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel.
www.nbcnews.com www.nbcnews.com

Rich Greenfield, a media and technology analyst who often criticizes media companies for what he views as a belated reaction to cord-cutting, framed the move in blunt terms in an appearance on CNBC: “This is sort of a very clear, direct statement by Comcast.”
“They are exiting the cable network business,” said Greenfield, a co-founder of research firm LightShed Partners. “This is them saying we don’t want to be in this business. This is no longer a growth business. It’s going to be around for a long time, but it’s just no longer a growth business.”
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Amazon Prime is eating everyone's lunch, dinner and the next day's breakfast, but I'm surprised it's not followed by a bunch of other streaming services.
 
radiofan2023 said:
Amazon Prime is eating everyone's lunch, dinner and the next day's breakfast, but I'm surprised it's not followed by a bunch of other streaming services.
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The thing about Prime is they've combined it with a lot of other things. That always helps. Other companies try to keep their streaming separate from other businesses, and that isn't what people want.
 
Don CT said:
Comcast will still be the parent company. No reason they can’t keep the news division together.
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There is if you are keeping open the possibility of being acquired. Pretty sure the people making these decisions have thought through the steps and know far more about why they’re taking various steps.
 
Don CT said:
Comcast will still be the parent company. No reason they can’t keep the news division together.
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If you haven't watched the video or read the articles, the TL;DR is Comcast is spinning off the cable properties (exception: Bravo) into a new, publicly-traded company, with its own ticker symbol and (presumably independent) board of directors. What Brian Chung (the correspondent on the story) called "SpinCo" will be the legal owner of MSNBC, CNBC, Oxygen, E!, SyFy and Golf Channel. Peacock will remain under Comcast (as will NBC News and NBC Sports), but there will need to be a licensing agreement to allow those channels to remain available on Peacock.

Multiple moving parts, but one thing is certain: the new board of directors will have a fiduciary responsibility to act in the best interests of "SpinCo. (which undoubtedly will be named something less pithy after all the legal work is complete). I hope that there is no crossover between the new company's board and Comcast's board or management.

I have some very specific experience with a situation where the Cable Barons were the major customers of a former employer, as well as having ownership positions and board seats in that same company. It was a nightmare of conflicts of interest, as well as a disaster in terms of putting interests of their MSOs ahead of the best interests of our smaller company. Double dealing, insistence on spending money we didn't have, and essentially wrecking a fast-growing tech startup with great potential. So I have good reason to be suspicious until I see how this shakes out, and I won't be investing any of my own money into SpinCo.
 
It will be interesting to see how long "Spin Co" is allowed to use the names MSNBC and CNBC until Comcast says SpinCo must change the names MSNBC and CNBC. Its like when Disney got 20th Century Fox and they had to rename it 20th Century Studios because Fox Inc owns the name Fox for its O&O's, Fox News and Fox Sports. Yes and most notable when Audacy got the former CBS radio stations and they are allowed to use KCBS, KCBS-FM, WCBS-FM until 2037. Note WCBS(AM) is now WHSQ ESPN Radio affiliate.
 
Don CT said:
Did Comcast admit they were wrong in buying NBC Universal in the first place.
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Has Comacast ever admitted to being wrong? About anything?

Y2kTheNewOldies said:
It will be interesting to see how long "Spin Co" is allowed to use the names MSNBC and CNBC until Comcast says SpinCo must change the names MSNBC and CNBC.
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Note that the "MS" in MSNBC stands for Microsoft, which was a partner (with GE) at its creation. They continue to use that name, do they not?
 


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