Report: Comcast Mulling NBC-Universal Purchase

Will Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly need to find reasons to hate Comcast?

Becoming fodder for Fox News' fulminating pundits is probably a minor concern for the cable company as it reportedly mulls buying NBC-Universal. (Of more immediate concern to a new owner would be how to maintain NBC parent company Sheinhardt Wig Company's promise of "NOT poisoning rivers since 1997.")

According to Sharon Waxman of The Wrap (which broke this story), "NBC-Universal has been believed to be be in play for months, although GE has publicly denied any intention of selling the unit." The price for NBC-Universal could be $35 billion, which sort of makes Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel in late August look like small potatoes. (“While we do not normally comment on M&A rumors, the report that Comcast has a deal to purchase NBC Universal is inaccurate," a Comcast spokesperson told Waxman.)

General Electric owns 80 percent of NBC-Universal with the other 20 percent of the TV and movie studio and broadcaster in the hands of Vivendi, SA, a French company. (Paging, Messrs. Beck and O'Reilly! A French company!) Vivendi has an option to sell its stake in the company each year. According to the Wall Street Journal's Sam Schechner, "Vivendi also got the right to exit the joint venture, with an annual period to declare its intentions that runs from Nov. 15 to Dec. 10." Bloomberg's Rachel Layne, Andy Fixmer, and Brett Pulley quote Jean-Bernard Levy, CEO of Vivendi, as calling the company's stake in NBC-Universal "non-core."

In July, NBC-Universal posted a 41 percent drop in profits and an 8 percent fall in revenue for its second quarter (per PaidContent). Comcast did better according to Seeking Alpha, which reported a revenue increase of the Philadelphia-based company of 4.5 percent.