[27], On March 16, 2009, NBC Universal-owned cable channel Sci Fi announced that it would be changing its name to Syfy, replacing a generic term with a proprietary brand name that was able to be trademarked. [79][80] On October 4. [45] In July, the company placed NBC TV Stations and Telemundo's O&Os stations into a new division, NBCUniversal Owned Television Stations, with New England Cable News being transferred into NBC TV Stations.[46]. [20] This acquisition gave NBC Universal all Hallmark channels outside the United States, plus the English channels Diva TV, Movies 24, Hallmark Channel and KidsCo. On August 27, 2009, A&E Television Networks (A&E) merged with Lifetime Entertainment Services (Lifetime),[30][31] giving NBC Universal an equal share of both Lifetime and A&E with The Walt Disney Company and Hearst. [41], Comcast had planned to buy out GE's 49% stake over the following seven years, but ownership of NBCUniversal remained split at 51–49% for two years, until the February 12, 2013 announcement that Comcast intended to complete the $16.7 billion purchase early, all at once. Localism may also be affected by this merger. The company plans to add content from the NBCUniversal programming library and the company's various television networks as well as use it to upsell its free/subscription hybrid service Peacock, akin to ViacomCBS's utilization of Pluto TV to offer content from its cable networks following the former Viacom's purchase of the rival streamer in the Spring of 2019. In 2009, Chiller unveiled a new slogan, "scary good". 13.1K views View 9 Upvoters In early 2008, the channel unveiled a new slogan, "Get Clued In." Follow us on Twitter On August 15, 2011, Sleuth rebranded as Cloo, in order to be able to trademark and own the name, as NBCUniversal cannot so with the name Clue (as Hasbro owns the rights to it with their board game Clue). ", "Antitrust Officials Clear Comcast's $3.8B DreamWorks Animation Acquisition", "NBCUniversal's Ron Meyer: Here's why we bought Dreamworks Animation", "Comcast Completes $3.8 Billion Purchase of DreamWorks Animation", "Universal Studios Buys a Minority Stake in Amblin Partners", "Comcast to Buy Remaining Stake in Universal Studios Japan for $2.3 Billion", "NBCU's Sprout Grows Up: Universal Kids to Debut in September", "A new age: Sprout to become Universal Kids", "NBCUniversal Is Building Its Own Children's Channel", "NBCU EVP Duccio Donati Takes on DreamWorks Channel", "Duccio Donati tapped for new kids role at NBCUniversal", "NBCUniversal Acquires Majority Stake in Craftsy Digital Network", "NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke Expected to Depart Next Year", "Comcast-Fox Deal Talks Latest Entry Into Media Merger Mania", "Sony Also Inquiring About 21st Century Fox Assets", "Comcast drops bid for Fox assets, leaving Disney in pole position", "Disney is buying most of 21st Century Fox for $52.4 billion", "Murdoch bid for Sky challenged by US giant", "Comcast starts £22bn bidding war for Sky", "NBCU's Steve Burke Claims Comcast's $31B Sky Deal Will Boost Scripted TV & Film Fortunes, Fox Notes No "Firm Offer" Was Made; 21st Century Fox Reacts – Update", "Sky bid battle looms after government nod", "U.K. Approves Fox's Sky Bid, Subject to Sale of Sky News, and Clears Comcast Offer", "Comcast Clears EU Hurdle in $29 Billion Bid for Sky", "Comcast Clears EU Antitrust Hurdle for Sky Ahead of Disney Fight", "U.K. Takeover Body Hikes Price Disney Would Need to Offer for Sky", "Sky takeover battle must go to auction, orders regulator", "Comcast outbids Fox in $40B battle for Sky", "Sky: Comcast outbids Fox with £30bn bid for broadcaster", "Comcast Buys Over 30% of Sky on Open Market, Seeks More Before Takeover Deadline", "Rupert Murdoch's Sky reign to end as Fox sells all shares to Comcast", "Comcast Closes Deal for Fox's Sky Stake, Owns Over 75% of European Pay-TV Giant", "Comcast to buy remaining Sky shares after bid gets 95% acceptance", "Recommended mandatory superior cash offer for Sky: Compulsory acquisition of Sky shares", "Merger of Sky, NBCU Operations Begins Post-Comcast Takeover", "What We Know About NBCUniversal's Future Streaming Service", "NBCUniversal Shakeup: Mark Lazarus, Jeff Shell and Bonnie Hammer Promoted, Streaming Service to Launch in 2020 (EXCLUSIVE)", "NBCU Streamer Gets Name, Sets Slate Of Reboots, 'Dr. [13] That same year NBC acquired the cable channel Bravo. [6], NBCUniversal was formed on August 2, 2004, with the merger of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal's film and television subsidiary Vivendi Universal Entertainment, after GE had acquired 80% of the subsidiary, giving Vivendi a 20% share of the new company. The cable division also used to operate NBC Weather Plus until 2008. Some of them directly called it "merger to monopoly". Universal Filmed Entertainment Group chairman Jeff Shell added NBC Entertainment, Telemundo and international channels as chairman of NBCUniversal Film and Entertainment. [74][75], On September 20, 2018, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers ordered that a blind auction be held "in order to provide an orderly framework for the resolution of this competitive situation". NBCUniversal also explained that another reason for the name change was the word "Sleuth" is too common for search engines (a Google search brings up over 9,530,000 results).[17][18]. The move also created the corporate-level position of executive vice president in charge of digital ventures. One year later after Sleuth's debut, NBC Universal announced that the company would launch a horror-themed cable channel, Chiller, on March 1, 2007. [24] NBC Sports talent could now appear on Comcast networks such as Golf Channel; NBC's golf coverage was re-branded as Golf Channel on NBC beginning at the 2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Crime. NBC is owned currently by NBCUniversal Broadcast, Cable, Sports and News, the television distribution arm of NBCUniversal, which is a subsidiary of Comcast. [2][3], Negotiations between Comcast and NBC Universal for a potential acquisition began as early as March 2009; News Corporation and Time Warner were also reportedly interested in purchasing the studio. Peacock is an American over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Television and Streaming division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. [84], On January 14, 2019, NBCUniversal announced that it will launch an over-the-top streaming service to compete with Netflix, CBS All Access, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Apple TV+, HBO Max, and Disney+. It has film, television, cable networks, and publishing operations. [34][35] Vivendi completed the initial transaction on September 27, 2010, selling a $2 billion stake to GE (approximately 7.66%). In July 2008, Universal Cable Productions split off from Universal Media Studios and moved into NBCUniversal's NBCU Cable Entertainment division. On September 26, 2018, Fox subsequently announced its intent to sell all of its shares in Sky plc to Comcast for £12 billion. [7], On January 18, 2011, the FCC and the United States Department of Justice approved the acquisition. The company consolidated its various networks by breaking down each unit. On August 2, 2004, the television divisions of NBC and Universal Television were combined to form NBC Universal Television. NBCUniversal is a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation. Of course, both of them are worrying about the domination which Comcast-NBCU may be capable of establishing and the entry barrier. [7] The joint venture encompassed Vivendi's US film interests (such as Universal Studios), Universal Network Television, NBC Universal Television Distribution, production and distribution units, as well as five theme parks, cable television channels including USA Network, Sci-Fi Channel, the defunct Trio, Cloo (formerly Sleuth), as well as 50% stakes in Canal+ and StudioCanal (with Vivendi owning the rest). The deal includes a provision under which Comcast must contribute $7.5 billion in programming including regional sports networks and cable channels such as Golf Channel, Versus, and E! NBCUniversal’s streaming service finally has a name: Peacock. Also, we stated that Comcast owned the … Total sales for the second quarter fell 25 percent, to $6.1 billion. NBCUniversal has come under pressure as the pandemic continues to wipe out advertising revenue and theatrical sales. The company this week started layoffs as part of a program to cut about 10 percent of its 35,000-employee work force. Comcast would have to give up NBC control over online video site Hulu, and ensure NBC Universal programming is available to competing cable operators. In its portfolio, NBCUniversal has … Comcast's lifeblood, the $100-a-month cable bill and the $50-a-month broadband bill, increasingly look like duplicative expenses. NBCUniversal, the media giant owned by the cable operator Comcast, has pushed out the leader of its network entertainment group amid a pending investigation into claims of workplace harassment. predict that the price of distributing videos is going to fall dramatically in the near future because three distribution products of Comcast (Broadcast-TV-Internet) are all merging into the network. Sleuth Network's initial slogan was "Mystery. Despite the focus on cable, Comcast promised to remain committed to over-the-air broadcasting, and promised an increased amount of local news, children's programming, and Spanish language programming across various platforms, including over-the-air. For the best experience, turn your mobile device portrait mode. [92] On April 20, 2020, Fandango (owned by NBCUniversal and AT&T's WarnerMedia) announced that they would be acquiring Vudu. Comcast creates incredible technology and entertainment that connects millions of people to the moments and experiences that matter most. In 2001, NBC acquired the US Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo, that includes the bilingual Mun2 Television for $1.98 billion. NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at the Comcast Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The sale was approved by board members, but was subject to regulatory approval. It has film, television, cable networks, and publishing operations. FCC Commissioner Copps once said, "It will create a single company with enormous influence over politics, art and culture across the nation and especially in the New York metropolitan area." In 1995, NBC began operating NBC Desktop Video, a financial news service that delivered live video to personal computers. [39][42][43], The corporation on July 19, 2012 formed the NBCUniversal News Group with the NBC News, CNBC, and MSNBC divisions. NBCUniversal Media, LLC is a media conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at the Comcast Building in Midtown Manhattan, New York City.