Comcast announced plans to spin off a number of cable channels once viewed as prime assets days after MSNBC’s ratings fell, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The cable giant is spinning off MSNBC, CNBC, USA, E!, Oxygen, SyFy and other channels in news and entertainment, the WSJ reported. The news comes after MSNBC ratings fell by 53% following former President Donald Trump’s defeat of Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election, according to the New York Times.
It’s official: Comcast will offload a bulk of NBCUniversal‘s cable networks — excluding Bravo — into a new entity owned by Comcast shareholders.
The spin-off company will house MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, Golf Channel and more.https://t.co/HXCm6PITV9
— Variety (@Variety) November 20, 2024
The networks bring in roughly $7 billion in revenue, according to the WSJ, which noted that the broadcast network NBC, the Peacock streaming service and the reality-focused Bravo cable channel would remain under Comcast.
Ratings for “Morning Joe” also started declining after MSNBC host Joe Scarborough said at the start of “Morning Joe” Monday he his co-host and wife Mika Brzezinski met with Trump Friday for the first time in seven years at Mar-a-Lago, saying they needed to “restart communications.”
Comcast also announced leadership changes, with Mark Lazarus being named as CEO of the new venture, Donna Langley being named chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios and Matt Strauss being placed in charge of sports, ad sales and distribution, the WSJ reported.
MSNBC hosts and guests routinely hyped the claims that Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with the Russian government to defeat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and repeatedly had Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who often made claims about alleged collusion between the 2016 Trump campaign and Russia, on the air. The Steele Dossier, which was used to further allegations of collusion, was later discredited.
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