"SpinCo": Comcast Unveils Spun Off Company Home To Brands Like MSNBC And E!

The company announced a plan Wednesday that will offload the bulk of NBCUniversal‘s financially challenged cable portfolio — excluding Bravo — into a new entity owned by Comcast shareholders. The thinking is the new company will be positioned to acquire other media and digital properties, to gain greater scale in an increasingly streaming-focused landscape. Alternatively, the separation of the NBCU cable group would make it easier to sell the business.

The spin-off company will house MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel. In addition, the company will include digital assets including Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, online golf-course booking service GolfNow and youth-sports platform SportsEngine. Comcast said it is structured as a tax-free spin-off.

The new NBCU cable TV company — currently dubbed “SpinCo” — will be led by CEO Mark Lazarus, who has served as chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group since July 2023, overseeing the company’s TV and streaming operations.

“When you look at our assets, talented management team and balance sheet strength, we are able to set these businesses up for future growth,” Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts said in a statement. “With significant financial resources from day one, SpinCo will be ideally positioned for success and highly attractive to investors, content creators, distributors and potential partners.”

Comcast stock was up about 2% in premarket trading, to over $43/share, off its 52-week high of $47.11.

Post-spin, NBCUniversal will comprise the NBC broadcast network and stations, the Peacock streaming service, Bravo (the reality TV powerhouse seen as a key to Peacock’s success), NBC News Group, NBC Sports, Telemundo, the Universal theme parks and resorts, and NBCU’s film and television studios. The “new” NBCU will be led by Matt Strauss, who will become chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group overseeing Peacock, NBC Sports, ad sales, distribution, research and affiliate relations; and longtime content executive Donna Langley, who is assuming the role of chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment & Studios, expanding her purview to include full oversight of all entertainment programming and marketing across Peacock, Bravo and NBC (including primetime and late night).

the role of CFO and chief operating officer.

Lazarus commented: “As a standalone company with these outstanding assets, we will be better positioned to serve our audiences and drive shareholder returns in this incredibly dynamic media environment across news, sports and entertainment. We see a real opportunity to invest and build additional scale, and I’m excited about the growth opportunities this transition will unlock.”

The article was originally published by Variety 

How Comcast Plans To Ditch Several NBCUniversal Channels Affects DStv?

MultiChoice currently supplies channels like Universal TV, E!, Telemundo, Studio Universal, DreamWorks, CNBC and MSNBC from NBCUniversal. As reported, NBCUniversal's parent company Comcast is planning to ditch these channels and make them into a separate company.

Similar to how Naspers dumped MultiChoice and Irdeto now that is being eyed by French broadcaster Canal+. The same potential owner is also being abandoned by its parent company with some of its shareholders joining the spin off and what do all these entities have in common - TV channels.

There are some former DStv customers celebrating right now that more people will likely abandon the platform if these channels ceased to exist when this plans enter fruition. But this is a bad thing yes some would prefer Wednesday or Squid Games on Netflix but there's plenty of people that are still in it for DStv particularly these channels.

Now that Comcast from the looks of things are dumping NBCUniversal probably even Sky Group as majority of their existence centers on these channels. Questions amount to how E! and DreamWorks will survive such in a transaction even Telemundo are their existence centred on originality.

E! has been winding down it's operations in parts of Europe and I can imagine various shareholders in this spun off company looking to simplify it's operations. Then there's DreamWorks even if the plan was to retain the channel it would look unrecognizable in the coming years relying on imports.

Sure Cartoon Network has been doing this for several years but a majority would expect 100% DreamWorks from its own channel. I expect once this spinoff happens for brands like DreamWorks to undergo a name change. This is what happened when Disney acquired FOX they didn't own the trademark like they did it's studios and channels.

Presuming DreamWorks will morph into Universal Kids but then again it all depends on what the higher ups decide at this point I can imagine them looking to simplify their operations. E! has closed down in the UK and parts of Europe more could follow maybe Telemundo as they prioritize other brands.

MultiChoice had already dealt with such a blow from Disney after it closed FOX, FOX Life and Disney XD. None of these brands were replaced leaving an empty void on top of the recent bloodbath of Me as it merged with 1Magic to form a premium channel known as 1Max, we could just be dealing with even less content.

Comcast Plans Massive Cable Spin-Off, Separating USA, MSNBC and More From NBC, Theme Parks

Comcast is planning to spin off most of its cable television networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, into a separate publicly traded company, according to executives with knowledge of the plan.

The spinoff is expected to be formally announced on Wednesday. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the impending announcement on Tuesday evening, said the involved channels also include USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel.

Comcast’s NBCUniversal division is keeping Bravo, the NBC broadcast network, the Peacock streaming service, and all of its other assets, like NBC Sports and the Universal theme parks.

The separate cable channel company will have the same sort of ownership structure as Comcast, but will have its own management team, led by NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus, who will become CEO of the new venture.

While observers may view the spinoff as an attempt to shed cable channels that are losing value in the streaming age, the channels still contribute strong profits to Comcast’s bottom line. The company’s executives are expected to portray the spinoff as a growth opportunity for an industry in transition, with an eye toward acquiring other channels in the future.

Of course, the standalone cable network venture could also attract buyers as well as sellers. Wall Street analysts are predicting further consolidation of major media companies in the years ahead.

Comcast president Mike Cavanaugh foreshadowed the spinoff during a conference call with investors last month. He said the company was going to study whether it was a good idea to create “a new well-capitalized company that would go to our shareholders” comprised of “our cable portfolio networks.”

The study evidently did not take long.

Craig Moffett, an analyst with MoffettNathanson, told Variety that “investors have yearned for exactly this, or at least something close to it, for years.”

Notably, the spinoff will cleave MSNBC and CNBC, two profitable parts of the NBCUniversal News Group, away from the core news-gathering operation of NBC News. In recent years NBC has tried to bring its broadcast and cable news operations closer together. Now they may be peeled back apart.

WildEarth Might Be Looking To Relaunch On DStv Before The End Of November

During the week, it was reported that MultiChoice might be looking to relaunch a former channel to the DStv platform after removing it alongside 11 other channels during the year. The company has been in pursuits by the French broadcaster Canal+ whose parent company Vivendi is looking to divest from the brand.

Canal+ also offers services in Africa particularly francophone regions where WildEarth is being distributed on those platforms in a separate agreement. Other brands such as Telemundo, Africa Magic Epic, SuperSport La Liga and M-Net Movies 3 and 4 form part of an add-on known as DStv English.

Based on some recent sitings, it appears MultiChoice is looking to add WildEarth to the platform before the end of November as several promotional banners had popped up all of which are slated for the month. We can only assume that they'll be an announcement about the relaunch in the coming days or so.

It wouldn't even surprise me if MultiChoice just placed WildEarth on its channel number and made the announcement on the day it went live. 

This looks to be an exciting development for those who watched the channel but for the rest of the media we're only left with questions. Firstly, why would MultiChoice engage with a company that slandered them on multiple platforms after failing to secure funds to continue packaging the channel through DStv.

Now we're just expected to see all of this unfold without any clear answers on the matter I can only assume that MultiChoice is paying for the carriage of WildEarth. With the brand also offering a streaming hub on YouTube I can only assume with DStv they're probably turn the channel into a promotional window.

Could M-Net Be Winding Down As Canal+ Looks To Bulk Up StudioCanal Operations Through MultiChoice?

 StudioCanal is a production company which very much like M-Net or MultiChoice Studios curates originals ranging from films or television series. It has established it's presence in US, UK and parts of Europe with plans underway to extend their reach to more African markets through their acquisition of MultiChoice.

For those who are unfamiliar, StudioCanal is home to Paddington this was after Canal+ had bought rights to the franchise in 2016. They're also responsible for a number of productions including Spinners (from M-Net), Bridget Jones, Escape From New York and Terminator: Judgement Day.

In their prospectus published on 31 October 2024, Canal+ had outlined plans to leverage StudioCanal's expertise onto MultiChoice which would see the company building up on IPs that can attract a vast majority of households. MultiChoice has so far made local adaptations of The Real Housewives and Big Brother and Canal+ wants to expand.

I think the only question at this point is where does this leave M-Net as it has been a curator of local content seen on Mzansi Magic, KykNet and Africa Magic and also distributed international content from NBC, HBO and CBS Studios. For now, we anticipate that they'll keep the M-Net trademark intact but overtime that might change.

Usually ahead of overhauls/rebrands, a TV channel makes some adjustments to their lineup to avoid any scandal with the media. That's what happened to 1Magic and Me before it merged to form 1Max same with Boomerang before transitioning to Cartoonito there was always content on the side to embark this change.

For now content on KykNet and Mzansi Magic will be branded as M-Net originals but once this takeover concludes it could fold under Canal+ and there wouldn't be much of an M-Net left as their lineup expands. As for M-Net 101, I'd imagine it being an import for Canal+'s operations in Europe as they've licensed content there before.

MultiChoice wants to compete on a global scale and they're trusting this transaction with Canal+ will help in those efforts. I doubt remaining shareholders will oppose such a scenario as Canal+ would form part of MultiChoice and any success for one party is as much as a success for the rest.