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Comcast’s Proposed Takeover of NBC: Why It Matters To You

Posted by srr50 on October 20th, 2009 under Football

There have been rumors for a while that Comcast and GE are in talks about a deal in which GE would spin off its NBC Universal Unit (including the cable channels) into a new company that would merge with the content assets of Comcast.

Why does the proposed takeover matter to sports fans, or more specifially college football fans? Because the head of Comcast, Jeff Shell wants the new company to compete with ESPN for premier sports product.

Comcast already owns Versus and the Golf Channel as well as several regional sports channels. NBC brings Notre Dame football, NFL football (which includes being in the Super Bowl rotation) and the Olympics.

Shell thinks this is an ideal situation to blend product with distribution, and that the market can support another major broadcasting outlet spending money for major sporting events.

“We have a huge opportunity,” Mr. Shell said of Versus, to create “another sports brand in America,”

The proposed deal would have Comcast own 51% of the new company with GE holding the other 49%. The deal would also allow the new company to be like ESPN and have dual revenue streams — advertiser dollars and cable subscription fees.

They obviously are going to need new product — and this is where the Big 12, as well as the Pac 10 and the ACC can see an opportunity to make deals close to what the SEC has with ESPN and what the Big 10 has with its own network.


If the proposed merger between NBC and Comcast becomes final, then the Big 12 and Versus may become BFF’s

There is one interesting new facet to this proposed new company. ESPN right now has the ability to put its product on different platforms, so its partners, like the SEC, can have all their games on either ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU or ESPN.Com.

Comcast supposedly is thinking about putting their premier football games simultaneously on multiple channels, with each offering different camera angles.

As for the idea of dual revenue streams, it is why ESPN can spend a couple billion on the SEC, and it is why Comcast wants in on the action.

According to industry reports, advertisers spent an estimated $10.6 billion for commercials in sports programming across U.S. broadcast networks, cable networks and local TV stations last year. Sports channels also collected $9.2 Billion in cable subscription fees in 2008, which was 40% of all the basic-cable TV subscription fees for the year.

There is another angle for Comcast in this. They believe that by competing with ESPN they cannot only get their piece of the subscription pie, they can leverage their position to cut into the WWL’s share when negotiating for the fees that they pay ESPN.

Maybe the deal doesn’t go through. Maybe it turns out to be a dud like the Time-Warner-AOL deal. But if it gets off the ground, the short-term beneficiaries will be the BCS conferences not named SEC and Big 10.

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22 Responses

  1. magnusbleuveigner said:

    October 20th, 2009 at 6:16 pm

    GE equals Immelt. Immelt equals BFF’s with that dude in the Oval Office. Dude in the Oval Office wants a playoff.

    I’d get behind that.

    I wonder if this new conglomerate would fellate different teams than ESPN, or just add more slobber.

  2. whoopspat said:

    October 20th, 2009 at 6:28 pm

    Competiton is good.

    Weird I say that in reference to Comcast.

  3. CloseToJumping said:

    October 20th, 2009 at 8:43 pm

    Two things–

    1) If you haven’t read “Disney War”, do it. It is a fun business drama book and Comcast plays a prominent role in it. They got burned in the Disney dealings and would probably like to punish them accordingly.

    2) If this comes to fruition, I think it would mark the beginning of conference realignment. Texas to the Pac 10 and Notre Dame to the Big Televen, with some smaller guys to combo in as well. Suddenly competing with the SEC and ESPN makes a lot more sense.

    If #2 is fantasy, don’t tell me. I want to believe.

    Thanks for the story.

    whoopspat–

    Whatever you or I think of Comcast, they’re in the throes of real competition and have been for a while. They’re at war with the satellite groups, the phone providers, the Internet and programmers themselves.

  4. Sugarpants said:

    October 20th, 2009 at 9:22 pm

    Comcast blows.

    This is like watching a stripper fight. It’s fun to watch but do you really want to hang out with the winner?

  5. BEHorn said:

    October 20th, 2009 at 9:30 pm

    I used to play hoops with Jeff Shell. Good guy – I hope he gets the keys to the car.

    “Disney War” is pretty good, though like all those books it misses a few things here and there.

    I wouldn’t count on Immelt to be pushing a playoff, especially once they’ve unloaded their domestic TV station (NBC).

  6. topo gigio said:

    October 20th, 2009 at 10:18 pm

    CloseToJumping – explain to me the rationale for a Texas move to the Pac 10? What’s in it for UT? $$$ from TV no doubt with more households. What else? Have there ever been overtures?

  7. SydneyCarton said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 4:46 am

    Topo gigio:

    http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/2009/07/14/texas-to-pac-10-story-revisited/

  8. Barack Obama said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 4:55 am

    “Dude in the Oval Office wants a playoff.”

    CHANGE, bitches.

  9. SydneyCarton said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 5:02 am

    Here’s another article, also pretty exceptional. For some reason I take mild pleasure in Nebraska’s complaints after we joined the conference:

    http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/MYSA081405_3N_SWCbaylor_tech_1ca3e1c_html8528.html

  10. AeroHorn said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 9:02 am

    I would love to be part of a conference where academics and research offer common ground rather than just athletics. Big 10 (Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Northwestern) and Pac 10 (Stanford, Cal, UCLA, Washington) are ideal from this perspective as each offers at least 4 academically strong universities whereas Big 12 has at best 2 (Texas and A&M).

  11. Cincohorn said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 9:26 am

    Explain the NFL football part. Is that the NFL Network? Otherwise, when I think of NFL it’s CBS Sports, Fox Sports and ESPN.

  12. Art Vandelay said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 9:59 am

    Cinco….. dude. Turn on NBC on Sunday nights. They do a significantly better job with NFL football than ESPN or ABC, and as mentioned above they (NBC) are in the Super Bowl rotation. Try Googling Dick Ebersol if want to know who drives the sports bus.

    Also, Faith Hill over Hank Williams Jr by four touchdowns.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCmuelUGIHU

  13. The General said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 10:17 am

    srr50,

    Great read. BC has the best media coverage around thanks to you.

  14. Levander Williams said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 10:39 am

    “Turn on NBC on Sunday nights. They do a significantly better job with NFL football than ESPN or ABC”

    Except for Keith Olbermann.

    If we’re going to make a stand about excluding politically-driven quasi-entertainment figures from sports, let’s at least be even-handed about it.

  15. magnusbleuveigner said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 11:02 am

    Levander,

    This is the only place where I repress my political views. I’m usually that guy at the bar that will make you feel uncomfortable and detonate on people, strangers, family, and friends alike. Out of respect for the posters and my love for all SPORTS things UT, I will continue to do so. However, the fact that butt-fucking piece of shit is on a sports related show right before football keeps me from watching it. Fuck the double standard.

  16. Confused and Dazed said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 12:44 pm

    Would this mean that Directv would have a lot more pressure to pick up Versus…or would Versus just be rolled up into the big deal and become moot?

  17. Anonymous said:

    October 21st, 2009 at 5:14 pm

    Actually the Big 12 has six AAU institutions (Texas, A&M, Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, & Iowa State), 3 good (ranked nationally) but not great institutions (Baylor (80), Colorado (77), & Oklahoma (102)), and 3 shit holes (Tech, KSU, OSU).

    But all in all, this would be great for us viewers if it indeed comes to fruition.

  18. Sugarpants said:

    October 22nd, 2009 at 9:22 pm

    Olberman is a b-fing POS? I see things differently. Olberman is one of the few newscasters who isn’t trying to f my b. Dude is straight out honest to his own expense. He could be making a LOT more money at Fox telling people what they want to hear. F-ing Limbaugh can afford to buy an NFL team… he’s not doing that by dropping science.

  19. magnusbleuveigner said:

    October 23rd, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    He would make more money if his ratings were higher.

    Limbaugh would have been a minority owner. Obviously he’s a good businessman, but no billionaire is he.

    Oprah’s not dropping science either, but she’s loaded down like the Sultan of Brunei. Getting rich isn’t a crime.

    I’d give you my real feelings on Olbermann, alas, this isn’t the place.

  20. magnusbleuveigner said:

    October 23rd, 2009 at 3:37 pm

    “Newscaster.” I shouldn’t have skipped over that part. He’s not a “newscaster.” Anybody that interjects opinion is not a newscaster. Similar to the difference between a journalist and an editorialist. Surely you understand?

  21. Barking Carnival — Blog — Comcast Set to Get NBC: How It Could Effect Notre Dame Hire said:

    December 1st, 2009 at 9:06 am

    [...] The deal gives Comcast, the the largest U.S. cable TV provider, more venues and more revenue streams to build a sports brand to compete against the Mother Ship, ESPN. [...]

  22. Bob Dobbs said:

    December 1st, 2009 at 9:49 am

    So, magnus, I’m sure you qualify hannity and o’riley as newscasters, right.

    republicks are sociopaths.

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