Cable giant Comcast has announced that it will be spinning off multiple news and entertainment channels following a ratings crash at MSNBC and CNBC.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Comcast is spinning off MSNBC, CNBC, USA, E!, Oxygen, SyFy, and other channels in news and entertainment.
The cable channels, once viewed as prime assets, now appear to have become a burden for Comcast.
The announcement comes days after MSNBC’s ratings collapsed.
Following President Donald Trump’s landslide election victory over failed Democrat presidential candidate Kamala Harris, MSNBC’s ratings plunged by 53%.
The huge drop was revealed in a report from 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.
The outlet noted that the broadcast network NBC, the Peacock streaming service, and the reality-focused Bravo cable channel would remain under Comcast.
Ratings for MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” also started declining following an announcement earlier this week from hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski.
At the start of “Morning Joe” on Monday, Scarborough and Brzezinski said they met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago home.
After meeting with Trump, they said they planned to “restart communications” and would be taking a “different” direction moving forward.
The news outraged the show’s viewers, who have been repeatedly told that Trump is a “fascist” comparable to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.
Comcast also announced leadership changes.
Mark Lazarus has been named as CEO of the new venture, the WSJ reported.
Donna Langley will be the new chair of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios.
Matt Strauss is being placed in charge of sports, ad sales, and distribution.
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.
They also repeatedly had Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) who often made false 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.
