Comcast, the parent company of NBCUniversal, will announce the spinoff of many of its cable TV channels, including MSNBC, on Wednesday, according to multiplenewsreports, carrying out a plan the company had hinted at earlier this year.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Apart from MSNBC, Comcast is reportedly planning to spin off CNBC, USA, Oxygen and E!, among other channels. Those channels made about $7 billion in revenue in the year that ended Sept. 30, according to the Journal.
Bravo, the NBC broadcast network and the Peacock streaming service are among the assets expected to remain part of Comcast.
Mark Lazarus, the current chair of the NBCUniversal Media Group, is expected to lead the new company, according to the Journal and CNBC, and the process is expected to be completed in about a year.
Comcast has so far not commented on the reports.
The news comes as TV ratings continue to fall while more Americans cancel cable subscriptions and move over to streaming services, presenting a challenge for media companies and executives assessing the path forward.
Comcast President Mike Cavanagh had previewed the move in late October during an earnings call.
“Like many of our peers in media, we are experiencing the effects of the transition in our video businesses and have been studying the best path forward for these assets,” Cavanagh said at the time.
“To that end, we are now exploring whether creating a new well-capitalized company owned by our shareholders and comprised of our strong portfolio of cable networks would position them to take advantage of opportunities in the changing media landscape and create value for our shareholders,” he added.