MSNBC and other NBCUniversal cable channels currently under the Comcast umbrella will be under new ownership soon, as their parent company is going forward with plans to spinoff these assets.
Comcast acquired NBCUniversal in 2011, giving it ownership of channels such as MSNBC, CNBC, SyFy, and E!. While these and several other NBCUniversal networks generated roughly $7 billion for the network in the year ending Sept. 30, Comcast has opted to do without these networks following consideration of the idea last month, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.
This spinoff is expected to take place within a year and will be structured as tax-free for Comcast’s shareholders.
However, the parent company is not doing away with all of these networks as NBC broadcast network, Bravo, and the streaming service Peacock are expected to be kept by Comcast.
Ahead of these changes, Comcast is making multiple changes to its leadership, all of which will be effective immediately. Among these are Donna Langley, NBCUniversal’s chief content officer, who is being promoted to chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios.
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Comcast’s plans for NBCUniversal’s cable channels come amid a decrease in cable subscriptions in the United States, which went from a peak of 105 million households subscribed to cable television in 2010 to just the 70 million expected by the end of this year.
Earlier this month, MSNBC drew in over 6 million viewers, the most for MSNBC on an election night. The network also beat out rival network CNN in viewership on election night, as CNN only got 5.1 million viewers.