Comcast, the US media giant and owner of Sky, announces plans to spin-off parts of its TV business, which will affect how viewers in the UK and Ireland can access NBC News.
- Comcast’s recent integration of its news business will be undone, splitting NBC News from CNBC and MSNBC.
- UK and Ireland versions of other affected networks have either already closed or been integrated into Sky’s homegrown offer.
Comcast announced plans on Wednesday to divest a bundle of US cable TV channels, including Syfy, Golf Channel, Oxygen, MSNBC and E!, plus the globally distributed CNBC business news channel.
According to CNBC, the spun-off business will gain the option to merge with other networks or potentially be sold to private equity.
The rest of NBCUniversal, which includes the NBC broadcast network, NBC Sports, Bravo and streaming service Peacock, will continue under Comcast’s ownership.
Quoting persons familiar with Comcast’s plans, CNBC reports that Comcast executives will now consider options for the news business and whether licensing agreements need to be put in place between NBC and the new entity, and whether MSNBC and CNBC will continue to work with NBC News in any capacity. If the split is absolute, the channels may be forced to rebrand and lose the NBC peacock logo.
The split is expected to take a year to complete on a corporate level. However, it’s expected that some programming, including sports coverage, will continue to be shared across the affected networks for a time.
In the UK and Ireland, recent changes to services will lower the impact of the split:
How will the changes affect viewers in the UK and Ireland?
Of the networks affected by the split, only CNBC is widely (and officially) distributed in the UK and Ireland. Since the 1990s, it’s been the home of the NBC Nightly News in Europe. The channel is also well-know for showcasing some of NBC’s late night shows. That arrangement is now in jeopardy.
Under Comcast ownership, Sky News and CNBC began sharing resources in 2019. But in what now appears to be a well-timed move, Sky’s daily business news programming, presented by Ian King, was moved over to Sky’s HQ in Osterley in September.
Meanwhile, the UK and Ireland version of E! closed at the end of 2023. In 2022, Sky absorbed NBCUniversal’s SyFy channel, turning it in to Sky Sci-Fi. NBCUniversal’s Movies24 is now also controlled by Sky.
There’s been no specific mention of NBCUniversal’s reality TV streamer Hayu. As it’s a service only officially available outside of the USA, it isn’t within the scope of the split. And it’s unlikely to lose access to shows either. US network Bravo, the American home of the Real Housewives franchise and other reality shows, remains part of Comcast’s business. And these reality shows are popular with US Peacock users.
NBC News Now which, after a brief stint on Sky and Virgin Media, is now exclusively distributed on streaming platforms in the UK, will become the only NBC-branded news channel. It too faces changes. In the past, it’s relied on MSNBC for live breaking news coverage, especially at the weekends when its own rolling news service isn’t running. Within the wider Comcast business, it will sit alongside Sky News.
Sky’s status within Comcast isn’t affected by this announcement.
By: Marc Thornham | Image: Comcast media assets