Entertainment giant Comcast is considering forming a stand-alone spin-off company for its cable networks.
Comcast President Mike Cavanagh revealed the possible move to investors after reporting better-than-expected third-quarter sales, according to Deadline
With the cable audience shrinking in favor of streaming TV, Kavanagh did not say what implication the consolidation might have on jobs but said the intention would be to better position the networks in the “media landscape.”
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He said the “study” would allow the nation’s biggest cable provider to “play some offense.” Comcast on Thursday said profits exceeded analysts’ expectations, helped in large part by NBCUniversal’s summer Olympics coverage in Paris that generated $1.4 million in ad revenue.
Comcast, which owns and operates the Xfinity residential cable business, runs MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Syfy, Oxygen, Bravo, and E!.
“Like many of our peers in media, we’re experiencing the effects of the transition of our video businesses and have been studying the best path forward for these assets,” said Cavanagh, according to Deadline.
“To that end, we are now exploring whether creating a new, well-capitalized company owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks would position them to take advantage of opportunities in the media landscape and create value for our shareholders.
“We are not ready to talk about any specifics yet, but we’ll be back to you as and when we reach firm conclusions,” he added.
According to Forbes, there were only three cable networks in 2023 with an average audience above one million viewers, down from five the previous year and down from 19 in 2013.
Comcast did not say whether private financing was being proposed in the talks about a new cable company.
Deadline said Peacock, NBCUniversal’s streaming flagship, now has 36 million subscribers but is continuing to lose money.
Comcast sales climbed 6.5% to $32.1 billion in the third quarter, beating predictions of $31.7 billion. Other promising metrics included fewer than expected losses of cable and streaming customers. According to Bloomberg, Comcast lost 365,000 cable TV customers during the period.
