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Comcast spinning NBCUniversal

michael hagerty

michael hagerty

"Comcast is planning to split itself into two publicly traded companies, one focused on media that would include NBCUniversal and Sky and the other focused on broadband and wireless services.

The company said Monday that its board and management team think each company will be better positioned to pursue its own strategic priorities, invest for growth and create long-term shareholder value as independent entities.

The planned move comes after Comcast announced in November 2024 that it was spinning off cable networks such as USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel, as well as CNBC and MSNBC into a new company. Movie ticketing platform Fandango and the Rotten Tomatoes movie rating site were also included."
Click to expand...

Full story: Comcast plans to split into two public companies by spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky
 
Interesting. If this had been announced a year or two ago I wonder if NBC would have spun off most of their cable channels into a separate company (Versant) or kept them.
 
Larry said:
Interesting. If this had been announced a year or two ago I wonder if NBC would have spun off most of their cable channels into a separate company (Versant) or kept them.
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They'd have been gone anyway---the end goal for Comcast is to be a service provider. They're getting out of content.
 

(Gift article, no paywall)

I thought these questions from NY Times article were interesting:

“Monday’s announcement sent a shock wave through the media industry and raised questions about the future of the renowned film and TV company behind “Saturday Night Live,” “The Office” and “Jurassic Park.” Among them: Could NBCUniversal combine with Versant? Could Comcast sell its remaining stake in NBCUniversal to another media company? And could an independent NBCUniversal become an acquisition target?”
 
It's all about "unlocking stockholder value." Sumner Redstone did the same thing 20 years ago when he spun off CBS from Viacom.

Could it be an acquisition target? Sure. Who has money right now? We already know Netflix is looking for a studio.

FCC approval will be required, so it'll be interesting to see what they will want in return for approval. The company is already under investigation for its DEI policies. So that will have to be settled. They may also want an agreement for news coverage as they did with CBS.
 
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Woah I would have thought it was a repeat or rewrite of the Versant spinoff at first. But its tied to Comcast splitting from NBC. This is similar to how AT&T split from WB a few years ago when the Comcast NBCUniversal split gets finalized from the DOJ, SEC, FCC and State Attorney generals like California.



variety.com

AT&T Sets Plan to Spin Off WarnerMedia in $43 Billion Deal

AT&T's board decided to spin off the telco's interest in WarnerMedia rather than structure the divestiture as a split-off.
variety.com variety.com
 
NBC hasn't never been an independent entity. It's been awhile since MCA/Universal has been either. Not sure the management there is well tuned to running as a public company. Peacock will go with Universal, but a fair amount of subscriptions to that are gimmies to high tier Comcast customers. This will be an interesting transition.
 


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