Comcast has confirmed that it will cut the cord on some of its own cable networks and spin them off into a separate publicly traded company. Comcast says it will continue its strategic focus on driving its core growth businesses, including residential broadband, wireless, business services and the NBCUniversal streaming, studios and theme parks businesses. The networks to be spun off into a separate company include USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and Golf Channel along with complementary digital assets including Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and Sports Engine.
“When you look at our assets, talented management team and balance sheet strength, we are able to set these businesses up for future growth,” said Brian Roberts, the chairman and chief executive of Comcast. “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.”
It looks like the separate company will have a rather strange mix of brands. The idea may be to merge them with other media assets to create a stronger proposition.
That leaves NBCUniversal with its leading broadcast and streaming media properties, including NBC entertainment, sports, news and Bravo, which all power Peacock, along with Telemundo.
Mike Cavanagh, the president of Comcast, said: “Taken together, the entirety of NBCUniversal will be on a new growth trajectory, fuelled by our world-class content, technology, IP, properties and talent — all working in concert with each other as an integrated media company.”
The new company, currently just named ‘SpinCo’, will be led by Mark Lazarus, the current chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group, as chief executive, and Anand Kini, the current chief financial officer of NBCUniversal, who will take the same role in the new company. Together they will lead the development of an independent strategy, while also establishing SpinCo as a potential partner and acquirer of other complementary media businesses.
Over the last twelve months, SpinCo generated approximately $7 billion in revenue.
“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,” Mark Lazarus said. “We see a real opportunity to invest and build additional scale and I’m excited about the growth opportunities this transition will unlock. Our financial strength will also provide capacity for an attractive capital return policy while allowing for investment in the growth of these businesses.”
Comcast is aiming to complete the spin-off in around a year, subject to certain conditions and approvals.