Home Entertainment Before NBCU considered doing away with cable networks, many were shut down

Before NBCU considered doing away with cable networks, many were shut down

by Eclipsnews
0 comment

Unlike its rivals, NBCUniversal long ago developed a healthy fear of zombies.

Not the sloppy, undead kind that lurks around trying to eat brains, but rather the media variety: “Undead” cable networks that long ago gave up all hope of cultivating a round-the-clock audience and instead offered just a few hours of original programming spinning, coupled with seemingly endless reruns of TV favorites such as “Ridiculousness” (MTV); “Fear Factor” (HLN); or “Seinfeld” (Comedy Central).

Paramount Global and Warner Bros. Discovery, two of the bigger owners of these cable network ghosts, haven’t been able to show much to keep them going. Warner even announced a massive $9.1 billion writedown on its TV assets in August, citing business headwinds and the expected loss of its lucrative deal with the NBA to broadcast games on its cable networks. Paramount Global followed suit, revealing a $5.98 billion impairment charge in preparation for its acquisition by Skydance Media.

NBCU has not yet announced a downgrade, and one reason is that the company has been shutting down underperforming cable networks for years without any sentimental attachment to them. “There are just too many channels,” former NBCU CEO Steve Burke said in 2016, after the company scuttled Style and G4. Also gone: Esquire, Cloo and Chiller. In 2021, NBCU raised eyebrows by announcing plans to close NBCSN – a sports network! The theory: Sports broadcasts would boost the NBC broadcast network, the American cable channel, and the Peacock streaming service (Narrator: “They have.”)

Now Comcast, the parent company of NBCU, will consider a possible spin-off of its cable portfolio, the company announced Thursday during a call with investors. The idea, said Comcast President Mike Cavanagh, is to analyze what the effects of such a transaction might be before making a decision. “There might be smart things we can do and we want to study them,” he said. The news almost immediately led to speculation that Warner Bros. Discovery or Skydance would like to acquire such assets, although Cavanagh emphasized that the intention – if a decision is made – would be to give the new company to shareholders.

“Investors have been wanting exactly this, or at least something close to it, for years,” said Craig Moffett, analyst at MoffettNathanson. A deal like this would decouple Peacock and NBCU’s sports businesses from cable’s eroding economy.

It’s no secret that standalone cable networks have become complex but toxic assets in the modern media offering. They continue to generate millions in advertising and distribution revenue, but they need millions in content spend to keep their ratings high, just as many of their viewers are switching to streaming services. Disney’s FX, for example, had long been known for offering signature dramas and edgy series, doling out one episode per week at specific times of the year that often matched the needs of its producers. Now, most people think of “The Bear,” a current FX favorite, as something more tied to Hulu, parent company Walt Disney Co.’s streaming service.

NBCU’s current cable properties are not all operating at full capacity. The Universal Kids network never reached the heights the company envisioned when it acquired DreamWorks Animation for $3.89 billion. NBCU might have been better off keeping the outlet under its previous name, Sprout, when it was designed to appeal to preschoolers and their parents. Oxygen, once a network backed by Geraldine Laybourne and Oprah Winfrey and founded to appeal to a female audience, is more or less a true crime outlet in which rivals have a stronger position.

But there are still some good companies out there. MSNBC and CNBC have die-hard audiences, and the US, even though no longer known as the home for “blue-sky” dramas like “Burn Notice” or “White Collar,” still draws large crowds with sports and the return of “WWE SmackDown.” Bravo has built a die-hard fan base of people who want to catch every detail of whatever edition of “Real Housewives” is planned.

Comcast may be wondering if it can avoid some of the challenges Disney faces. Charter Communications came under notice for its more recent carriage negotiations with the company, in which Disney agreed to make Disney+ and ESPN+ available to some of its distributor’s subscribers, while Charter was given leeway to drop cable properties like Freeform, Disney Junior and Disney XD . .

Twisting the cable would pose some pretty tricky problems. Could NBCU’s news business still thrive if MSNBC and CNBC were spun off from the NBC News newsgathering apparatus? Don’t cable revenues provide valuable dollars for actual reporting? And do cable and satellite operators have deals that guarantee a certain number of sports will continue to appear on USA?

Cable has devalued Paramount and Warner. NBCUniversal might still be able to gain a new advantage from the medium if executives play their hand right. Comcast and NBCUniversal have the luxury of being able to scrutinize such things because, unlike their competitors, they don’t whistle past the graveyard.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

Experience a world of information in one place! Our site covers breaking news, beauty, lifestyle, entertainment, tech, and travel – your gateway to a diverse and enriching news landscape.

Subscribe our newsletter for latest lifestyle, tech update. Let's stay updated!

 
Are you sure want to unlock this post?
Unlock left : 0
Are you sure want to cancel subscription?
-
00:00
00:00
Update Required Flash plugin
-
00:00
00:00

Adblock Detected

Please support us by disabling your AdBlocker extension from your browsers for our website.