Turmoil in Kabletown: Jeff Shell’s Hasty Exit Spurs Questions About NBCU’s Long-Term Future Within Comcast
variety.comCynthia Littleton Business Editor The first rumblings about Comcast considering a major change involving NBCUniversal started this time last year.Now, in the wake of NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell’s abrupt firing, industry speculation about what may be in store for the network-studio conglomerate has gone into what-if overdrive.
Maybe NBCU merges with Hulu to become a stand-alone company. Maybe the cable operations of Comcast and the satellite business of the U.K.-based Sky are separated from NBCU.
Maybe NBCU makes a bid for Activision Blizzard if the latter’s $69 billion acquisition deal with Microsoft falls through. Or perhaps Comcast bides its time to see if Warner Bros.
Discovery is game to walk down the aisle with NBCU in 2025 or thereabouts. So many scenarios, so little clarity. Knowledgeable Comcast and NBCU sources maintain that the most likely outcome in the near term is … the status quo.
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