Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » General Electric

FCC To Allow Comcast-NBC Merger If Show Exclusivity Stops On Hulu

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 22:35:31 +0000

In December 2009 Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) made a deal to acquire NBC from General Electric. This deal is facing scrutiny from the government. The FCC said that one of the proposed conditions if they allow the deal to take place is that NBC would no longer have the exclusive rights to their shows on the Internet. This means that Hulu would not be the only web video service that has the rights to stream NBC shows. The three owners in Hulu are NBC, ABC, and FOX. [AllThingsD]

GE Buys Out Opal Software

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 17:44:22 +0000

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) has acquired Opal Software, a company that designs engineering software for electric, gas, and water utilities. Opal’s software can quickly migrate data between multiple platforms. GE software can also be integrated into non-GE systems using Opal’s software.

Opal is based in Australia and will be rolled into GE’s Digital Energy business in the Asia-Pacific region. “Opal Software’s products and project management services are integral to the delivery of GE Energy projects,” stated GE general manager Matt McKenzie. “[They] will help secure GE as a smart grid technology leader and meet the needs of the fast-growing Asia-Pacific region.”

[TechCrunch]

Vivendi Sells 20% NBC Stake To GE For $2 Billion

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 02:16:31 +0000

French media company Vivendi has sold its stake in NBC to G.E. for $2 billion. Vivendi had owned 20% of the broadcasting company. After Comcast completes its acquisition of NBC, Vivendi will sell the remaining 12.34% it owns to G.E. for $3.8 billion. Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy said that the company can use the sale of NBC to buy 100% of telecommunications operator company SFR. Vivendi owns 56% of SFR. [NYT]

GE Buying $325 Million Worth Of Ads From NBC Over Next 5 Years

Amit Chowdhry — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 07:34:13 +0000

Comcast may be the new majority shareholder in NBC, but General Electric has promised to buy about $345 million worth of ads from the TV network over the next 5 years. About $59 million will be spent each year, adding up to the $345 million. GE will also buy $50 million worth of 2012 Olympic Games ads. NBC owns the rights to the 2012 Olympic Games broadcast. The financial details of this transaction was revealed on an SEC filing.

Last year, GE spent $1.2 billion for advertising and most of that went towards marketing NBC Universal movies. The filing also revealed that Comcast cannot sell its stake for at least four years and GE cannot sell its stake for at least 3.5 years. After that period of time, Comcast will have the right to buy out NBC completely.

Comcast agreed to pay $6.5 billion in cash along with $7.25 billion in assets to gain control of NBC. The whole deal was valued at about $30 billion.

General Electric Selling Control of NBC To Comcast, Deal Valued At $30 Billion

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 23:23:47 +0000

Comcast Corporation and General Electric has entered an agreement that would give Comcast the controlling interest in NBC Universal Inc. Comcast is paying $6.5 billion in cash and the cable company agreed NBC to maintain its editorial independence for NBC News. Comcast is also currently negotiating buying NBC Universal as a whole. To appease shareholders further, Comcast agreed to pay the annual cash dividend to 40% which is almost $0.38 per share next year.

Comcast said that the merger makes them “strategically complete.” Comcast said that the reason why for buying NBC was because the network owned highly profitable TV channels such as USA, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, and Syfy. Comcast will own 51% of NBC. The deal values NBC at about $30 billion.

“This deal is a perfect fit for us,” stated Comcast CEO Brian Roberts. “We are honored that under this agreement Comcast would take over stewardship of this important collection of assets and are absolutely committed to investing in NBCU and ensuring that it is a vibrant, financially strong company able to thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace by delivering innovative programming.”

“This deal is a perfect fit for us,” Roberts said in a statement released shortly after 6 a.m. “We are honored that under this agreement Comcast would take over stewardship of this important collection of assets and are absolutely committed to investing in NBCU and ensuring that it is a vibrant, financially strong company able to thrive in a rapidly evolving marketplace by delivering innovative programming.

Peacock Equity (Joint NBC/General Electric Fund) Invests In 4INFO

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 10:44:21 +0000

Peacock Equity, created by GE Commercia Finance, GE Media Communications & Entertainment and NBC Universal is a $250 million global fund that invests in media and tech companies. The company recently announced that NBC Universal will take a stake in 4INFO, a San Mateo, Calif.-based company that focuses on SMS advertising. 4INFO gives access to real-time sports, business, entertainment, travel, and local information. 4INFO also provides celebrity, weather, horoscopes, stock quotes, craigslist.com listings, and health tips. The investment made by Peacock will be used to help 4INFO build a solid ad platform. 4INFO will also become NBC’s preferred mobile ad provider.

“4INFO clearly fits Peacock Equityâ€™s strategic funding objectives: it has a market-leading position within a high-growth sector and it has an exiting community of users accustomed to receiving customized, ad-supported content in text messages,â€ stated Peacock Equityâ€™s Tom Byrne. â€œMobile advertising will be a multi-billion dollar industry in the next few years as more progressive content providers and advertisers like NBC Universal realize its potential to engage audiences with targeted, measurable messages.”

Other investors in 4INFO include Draper Fisher Jurvetson, U.S. Venture Partners, and Gannett. 4INFO’s blog is available at: http://4info.typepad.com/blog/.

Recent Tech Funding: Adify, Funny or Die, 5min, and Yardbarker

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 01:51:17 +0000

Dollar Amount Involved: $3 Million Today / Expected $19 Million
Adify was founded in 2005 and has worked with large media companies such as Time, the Washington Post, NBC, and Comcast as clients to provide advertising supply.

Larry Braitman, the CEO/founder of Adify stated “We envision thousands of niche or vertically-focused ad networks emerging to meet specific market needs, driven by entrepreneurs and enterprises who are members of the specific communities they serve. These network builders are in the position to assemble publishers and deliver value to advertisers” at a recent Web 2.0 conference.

The first $3 million portion of a $19 million first round fund came from NBC Universal and GE Media Communications & Entertainment. Other investors in this round includes U.S. Venture Partners, Venrock Associates, and Time Warner.

Dollar Amount Involved: Undisclosed
Sequoia Capital has partnered with Gary Sanchez Productions for a new comedy video website that will feature clips with multiple hit actor, Will Ferrell. The producer of Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Adam McKay is also heavily involved in the project. The project is called Funny or Die.

The website has already attained over 1.5 million page views as of today. The first video to appear on the website features Will Ferrell arguing with his landlord which happens to be an infant.Any user will be able to upload their own videos, but if they are given a low score by Funny or Die visitors, the video will be banished. Outstandingly comedic clips will be noticed by adminstrators of the website and may potentially score further movie deals according to Gary Sanchez Productions. The FunnyOrDie and Sequoia deal was brokered by Jimmy Miller and Deborah Klein.

Dollar Amount Involved: $300,000
5min is a website with video tutorials such as ‘how to catch a flying disc’ and ‘Sushi: How To Make Pickled Ginger.’ The founder of the company is Ran Harnevo, who is based in Israel. The $300,000 was in seed funding and the investors are unknown.

Dollar Amount Involved: Undisclosed
Yardbarker is like a Digg for sports news only. Users submit links and news articles with the best sports content from all over the Internet. Yardbarker, Inc. is based in Berkeley, CA and was founded in 2006. “Welcome to Sports 2.0″ states the About Yardbarker page.Russell Siegelman, a partner at Kleiner Perkins was the investor in this round of seed funding.Some of the other investors include Ron Conway, Steve Anderson (Baseline Ventures), Ronald “Ronnie” Lott (former USC/San Francisco 49ers football player), Harris Barton (HRJ Capital), Labrador Ventures, and the Band of Angels.

[Information Source: alarm:clock]