But the industrial giant no longer appeared to have the wherewithal to navigate the rapidly changing media landscape or the will to make the financial investment needed to revive the slumping peacock network and troubled movie studio. Giving up control of NBC Universal represents a significant retrenchment by GE, which has long prided itself on strong management. GE placed a value of $30 billion on its NBC Universal businesses.Ĭomcast said the entertainment assets that it was contributing to the joint venture were worth $7.25 billion. The deal sets up GE for a gradual exit from the entertainment business, granting Comcast the right to buy out GE's interest within eight years. GE, which has owned the NBC network for 23 years, will reduce its ownership in the company to 49%. The deal underscores how cable television - not a broadcast network or a Hollywood movie studio - has become the new profit center for media conglomerates. Under terms of the deal, Comcast will contribute its entertainment channels, including E and Versus nine regional sports networks and about $6.5 billion in cash in exchange for 51% of the new venture, which will continue to be called NBC Universal for the immediate future. The proposed $30-billion transaction is the fruition of a longtime ambition by Comcast's 50-year-old chief executive, Brian Roberts, to recast his family-controlled Philadelphia company into a leading producer of movies and television shows and a purveyor of prominent cable and broadcast networks, including the venerable NBC. announced this morning that it was acquiring control of NBC Universal from General Electric Co.

In a momentous shift in the balance of power of the entertainment industry, cable television giant Comcast Corp. The $30-billion transaction would put a major production studio and broadcast network under the control of the nation's largest cable TV company.

Comcast strikes deal to buy NBC Universal from GE

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