Comcast President Mike Cavanagh had previewed the move in late October during an earnings call.
Marita Vlachou at The Guardian:
Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, on Wednesday announced the spinoff of many of its cable TV channels, including MSNBC, carrying out a plan the company had hinted at earlier this year. In addition to MSNBC, the portfolio of the newly created company titled “SpinCo” will also comprise CNBC, USA, Oxygen and E!, among other channels, as well as digital assets, including Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes. Those assets made about $7 billion in revenue in the year that ended Sept. 30, the company said in a press release.
Bravo, the NBC broadcast network, the Peacock streaming service, Telemundo as well as the theme parks business and film and television studios will remain part of Comcast. The Wall Street Journal was first to report the transaction was imminent. Mike Cavanagh, the president of Comcast, said the move will enable “both SpinCo and NBCUniversal to play offense in a changing media landscape.” “Taken together, the entirety of NBCUniversal will be on a new growth trajectory, fueled by our world-class content, technology, IP, properties and talent — all working in concert with each other as an integrated media company,” Cavanagh said. Mark Lazarus, the outgoing chair of the NBCUniversal Media Group, will serve as chief executive of the new company. The process is expected to be completed in about a year, the Journal reported earlier.
Comcast spins off nearly all of NBCU’s cable networks, including USA, CNBC, MSNBC, and E!, into a separate spin-off company named SpinCo. NBCUniversal will retain NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, and Peacock as its key assets.
Splitting off CNBC and MSNBC, and possibly USA, from NBCU, is a disastrous decision, mainly due to newsgathering resources being shared (MSNBC and CNBC) and sports coverage (primarily USA, but also some CNBC).
