Pulse2 Technology and Social Media News » NBC Universal

NBC Talking With Microsoft To Acquire Full Stake In MSNBC.com

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 25 May 2012 12:58:41 +0000

NBCUniversal is currently in talks with Microsoft Corporation to acquire the full stake in MSNBC.com. NBC News spokeswoman Amy Lynn confirmed that conversations are taking place between both companies. Microsoft and NBC started MSNBC in 1996 to create a 24-hour news channel and website. NBC acquired the news channel in 2005, but the website remained a joint venture. Comcast acquired NBC Universal in January 2011.

Hulu Offers Buyers 5 Years of Content Access

Riley Kennysmith — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 16:51:40 +0000

Hulu is still looking for a buyer, and the potential buyers are still looking for some promises of future content access before they make any moves. Hulu has stepped forward with a promise of 5 years of content, two years of which will be exclusive, from Disney, News Corp. and NBC. [Bloomberg]

Comcast Allowed To Acquire NBC, But Not Control Hulu

Amit Chowdhry — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 05:40:46 +0000

The federal government is allowing Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) to merge with NBC, but there are limitations. Comcast will not be allowed to sabotage Hulu.com when buying NBC. Comcast’s acquisition of NBC was worth about $30 billion. Media industry executives were interested to see how Comcast would influence Hulu.com. NBC Universal helped create Hulu and owns about 30% of the website.

“Comcast has an incentive to prevent Hulu from becoming an even more attractive avenue for viewing video programming because Hulu would then exert increased competitive pressure on Comcast’s cable business. If the proposed transaction were to be consummated without conditions, [Comcast] would hold seats on Hulu’s board of directors and could exercise their voting and other governance rights to compromise strategic and competitive initiatives Hulu may wish to pursue,” stated the U.S. Justice Department in a court filing.

ABC, CBS, and NBC Not Allowing TV Shows To Appear On Google TV

Amit Chowdhry — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 07:06:10 +0000

ABC, CBS, and NBC stated that they are not going to allow full length episodes of their shows on Google TV. However they will allow promotional clips when browsing with Google TV. Google TV lets you access the web browser and YouTube from your TV screen.

Logitech and Sony both started selling devices running Google TV this month. “Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform,” stated a Google spokeswoman.

Fox is not blocking Google TV from playing full episodes on their website, but a final decision has not been made yet. Hulu, a video streaming service owned by NBC, Disney, and News Corp. is blocking Google TV too.

[WSJ]

Hulu Considers An IPO

Amit Chowdhry — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 04:32:41 +0000

Video streaming service Hulu.com is considering an IPO. Hulu is expected to have a valuation of $2 billion if they were to go public now. Hulu execs have already started working with investment banks about the possibilities.

Hulu made about $100 million in revenue last year and they are on track to more than double that this year. Hulu plans to create a $9.99 per month subscription for additional services in addition to the free video applications already being offered.

Hulu was created as a partnership between Disney, News Corporation, NBC Universal and Providence Equity Partners. Hulu is led by former Amazon.com executive Jason Kilar.

DONE! Ventures Suing NBC Over Domain Name Sale

Amit Chowdhry — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 15:05:05 +0000

NBC Universal is being hit with a lawsuit because of a domain name sale that went wrong. DONE! Ventures CEO Ben Padnos claims that NBC accepted an offer to sell Women.com and Women.net for $1 million. However NBC President and CEO Jeff Zucker blocked the transaction even after an agreement was reached.

DONE! Ventures is a Manhattan Beach, California based Internet marketing firm that filed the complaint at the Los Angeles Superior Court on June 3. DONE! is claiming breach of contract. NBC signed an agreement with Sedo.com to sell each domain name for $600,000. DONE! made an offer for $1 million and NBC Universal accepted it. [TechCrunch]

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.

NBC Invests $2 Million Into Mobile Ad Company Greystripe

Amit Chowdhry — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:05:58 +0000

Greystripe is a mobile advertising company that has recently raised $2 million from NBC’s Peacock Equity Fund. Peacock Equity Fund is a joint venture between GE and NBC Universal. This is Greystripe’s Series C round of funding. Greystripe now has about $17.6 in total venture funding.

Greystripe previously raised funding from Incubic Venture Capital, Steamboat Ventures, and Monitor Ventures. Greystripe will be powering the advertising on the applications for several media companies including Sci-Fi Channel, Bravo, and MSNBC.

Disney Buys 27% Of Hulu, Sending Over ABC Programs

Amit Chowdhry — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 18:58:02 +0000

Disney has decided to jump on board with online video streaming by sending over content over to Hulu. That’s not all. Disney has acquired 27% of the company. Disney joins other Hulu owners NBC Universal, News Corporation, and Providence Equity Partners. Soon Disney will be sending over shows like Lost, Desperate Housewives, and Grey’s Anatomy to start with.

“We are smiling big today because we are honored to be working with a company that quite frankly inspired us from the very start of Hulu. Walt Disney was a founder, an innovator, a person with an atypically high quality bar, and someone who was maniacal in his obsession to delight his customers. Hulu has always taken great inspiration in that example and the culture Walt Disney created (which Bob Iger and his team carry forward and push to new levels),” stated the Hulu blog regarding the partnership.

CBS and the CW are basically the only major TV networks left out of Hulu. CBS is hosting high quality episodes of their own TV shows on CBS.com and TV.com. The CW hosts full TV shows on their website too.