Comcast, one of the nation's largest media conglomerates, plans to spin off its cable assets as part of a major restructuring of its business, according to multiple reports.
The plan, expected to take up to a year, would split the company's NBC Universal network, which includes MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, SyFy and E!. Golf Channel is selected from the rest of the parent company's portfolio.
These networks generated approximately $7 billion in revenue last year. According to the Wall Street Journalfirst reported the news of the spinoff plans.
The company's flagship streaming service, Peacock, and its broadcast network, NBC, will remain under Comcast, people familiar with the plan and the popular reality TV channel Bravo told the Journal.
The news comes as many major media companies have built extensive businesses around streaming and are taking losses on their terrestrial television assets. It also comes at a time when cord-cutting by consumers is increasing and ratings for cable news channels and other traditional television programming are declining.
comcast first obtained Acquired by NBCUniversal in 2011 for $16.7 billion.
