Comcast is exploring the idea of making a stand-alone company for its cable networks.
The American multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate is the second-largest cable provider in the United States, as well as the largest internet provider in the company. They are looking at ways to split up their internet and TV divisions into separate companies, as was reported by Deadline. This would see the company form a new company to “spin off” channels like USA Network and SYFY, to separate them from the main business.
Comcast President Mike Cavanagh discussed the idea in the company’s third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, admitting that they aren’t ready to discuss specifics of the deal yet.
“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,” Cavanagh said. “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.”
USA Network is the current home of Smackdown, and it is unknown what this move could mean for the WWE’s Friday Night show. They only moved from Fox earlier this year, so a further change in channels could potentially be an issue for the company.
It’s worth noting that it’s still unclear if private financing would come into play. It’s also only presumed that the new company would include Comcast networks like USA and Bravo.
