NBCUniversal parent Comcast Corp. is considering spinning off its cable networks into a separate company as the media giant continues to grapple with massive changes in the overall linear television business. Spinning off the cable networks into their own company owned by Comcast shareholders could “position them to take advantage of opportunities in the changing media landscape and create value for our shareholders,” President Michael Cavanagh told analysts Thursday during Comcast’s third fiscal quarter earnings call.
“Like many of our peers in media, we are experiencing the effects of the transition in our video businesses and have been studying the best path forward for these assets,” he said, adding that the company was not ready to talk about specifics yet, but would update investors when there were “firm conclusions.” NBCUniversal’s cable networks include USA Network, Bravo, MSNBC and Syfy. Comcast also said it would consider partnerships for its streaming business, which has lost billions of dollars since launch.
The consideration comes as the cable television business is undergoing upheaval. As customers have turned to streaming services, they are continuing to cut the cord, leading to major concerns for legacy TV businesses . Paramount Global and Warner Bros.
Discovery recently wrote down the value of their cable channel segments by billions of dollars. But analysts were skeptical of such a move by Comcast to unload its cable channel assets. These net.