G.E. Pact With Vivendi Clears Way for Sale of NBC

[Newsjock]

Source: New York Times

General Electric has reached a tentative agreement to buy Vivendi’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion, helping clear the path to a sale of the television and movie company to Comcast, people briefed on the matter told DealBook.

But much remains to be negotiated, these people warned. The Vivendi agreement values NBC Universal at $29 billion, less than the $30 billion or so that G.E. and Comcast had agreed to last month.

Harmonizing the two values, as in so much of the talks over NBC Universal, may take days to do. But people briefed on the matter said the companies are aiming to announce a completed deal by Thursday.

If a deal is finalized, it would reshape the entertainment industry, fulfilling Comcast’s long-held dream of becoming a content developer as well as a transmitter and end G.E.’s decades-long association with now-struggling NBC.

Read more: http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/ge-reaches-pact-with-vivendi-over-nbc-universal/?partner=yahoofinance

[imdjh]

1. Comcast is one of few companies that just about everyone seems to hate. nt

[Ian David]

2. Not just no, but FUCK NO! n/t

[Ian David]

3. Actually, which is worse: NBC owned by a military contractor...

... or being vertically-integrated into Comcast?

[pinniped]

4. Comcrap sucks ass.

.

[napi21]

5. Comcast is one of the worst for supressing liberal POV.

Comcast is the cable network that relegated MSNBC to a digital channel. They began the transition about a year ago and are almost done! I don't have them as my provider bit I know qiote a number of people who do and they were all bitching about not being able to watch Keith & Rachel! Some subsctribed to the more expensive service and others have opted to view the shows later online.

[boppers]

17. You guys still have non-digital?

Here, Comcast is all digital now, AFAIK... we get CSPAN/2, MSNBC, a crap ton of local channels, public channels, etc.

Maybe it varies by region.

[onehandle]

18. We have Comcast Digital, but have to pay for a higher package to get MSNBC.

And they refuse to carry it in HD locally.

[JDPriestly]

6. What will happen to Rachel Maddow, Ed Schultz and Keith Olbermann?

What will happen at MSNBC? That is our only hope for rational TV coverage of the news.

[Pab Sungenis]

8. They'll do the same thing to MSNBC that they did to TechTV when they bought it.

Merge its operations with one of their other "channels" then destroy all vestiges of the original.

Probably they'll "merge" MSNBC with what used to be "CN8," replacing everyone and everything on it over the course of a few months. The deal with Microsoft might force them to keep the MSNBC name, but that's all that they will keep.

[madamesilverspurs]

9. Given MSNBC's procilivity

to abdicating any 'news' responsibility on weekends and holidays (witness last week's bizarre 'Lockup' marathon), there isn't much reason to believe that the network holds any true journalistic standards. Maddow and Olbermann are better informed than their counterparts at either Fox or CNN, likely owing to their willingness to become educated generally. Maddow is exceptionally stellar in the research department. That said, MSNBC apparently views them as props to give the network a veneer of conscience while continuing to please the interests of the present ownership. Sadly, that's about the best we can hope for with a broadcast media unfettered by regulations, scruples or ethics.

To be fair, MSNBC didn't start broadcast journalism's slide into packaged sewage, and in some instances they are descending at a slightly slower rate than other entities. The decline is across the board. With events of major importance happening in the country and around the world, Tiger Woods' accident (the balloon-boy-du jour) dominates the airwaves.


---

[napi21]

20. They have Dillon Ratigan on in the AM too. He has proven to be a great interviewer.

Doesn't take any sh*t from anybody. If someone is on his show and doesn't answer the question he asks, he stops them and insists they answer it. I've seen quite a few kurflufluffles on his show. I try to watch him every day.

[Pab Sungenis]

7. Where's the FCC when we need 'em?

This sale cannot be allowed to go through.

[Faygo Kid]

10. With Deal, G.E. Clears Path to Sale of NBC

Source: New York Times

General Electric has reached a tentative agreement that clears the way for the sale of NBC Universal, including the flagship NBC network, to Comcast, the nation’s largest cable operator, people briefed on the deal said Monday.

Under terms of the deal, G.E. will buy Vivendi’s 20 percent stake in NBC Universal for about $5.8 billion. It removes one of the few remaining hurdles in its plan to sell control of the television and movie company to Comcast in a $30 billion agreement that reflects the changing landscape of broadcast television.

While a deal between G.E. and Comcast still could hit a snag over the final price, it is considered highly likely: G.E. wants to sell NBC because of rising losses, and Comcast wants to buy it to control more of the television programs and movies that flow through its cable systems.

The final threads may take days to sew up and there is a tentative plan to announce a final deal on Thursday, according to these people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the negotiations are not complete. . .

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/business/media/01deal.html?_r=1&hp

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This can't be good. Keith and Rachel are in danger here.

[RKP5637]

11. My first thought too, "This can't be good. Keith and Rachel are in danger here. "

I hope they make out OK. They are amongst the last portions of sanity on TV at night for media news IMO.

[truthisfreedom]

22. Media thrives on conflict. Don't worry... they'll be around.

No conflict if you can't pit one side against the other.

[DJ13]

12. I bet Comcast raises cable rates to pay for this

:mad:

[Sebastian Doyle]

13. Comca$t buying NBC would be like Vegans buying McDonalds.

No offense to vegans, of course. But the analogy is a good one.

[boppers]

21. No, it's more like Peta, *and* the Beef Council, buying McDonalds.

Comcast is nothing if not a bizarre profit-hungry corporation. Hence, they run right, left, centrist, and the bizarre, anything to make money.

[onehandle]

14. No more media empires. Call your reps to kill this. nt

[FrenchieCat]

15. General Electric wasn't really doing that much more for me......

I don't see that much difference....5th largest military contractor vs. Cable empire.

Seems close.

[onehandle]

16. Not the same. Big Media + A giant media delivery system that seeks to kill net neutrality.

= Disaster.

[optimator]

19. is there any antitrust enforcement

AT ALL?