It’s Official: Comcast to Spin Off Cable Nets Under CEO Mark Lazarus, Vowing “New Growth Trajectory”

Comcast made things official on Wednesday, unveiling the spin-off of most of its cable networks into a separate entity, led by Mark Lazarus, promising “a new growth trajectory” for the combined assets.

Cable channel Bravo, the NBC broadcast network, and streaming service Peacock will remain part of Comcast’s entertainment arm NBCUniversal.

Comcast president Mike Cavanagh had mentioned at the end of October that the company was considering a spinoff of its cable networks unit, which includes the likes of USA Network, Syfy, MSNBC, and CNBC, given the business challenges that cord-cutting amid the growth of streaming has created for cable channel units that used to be the core profit growth engines of Hollywood conglomerates. “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. 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,” Cavanagh told Comcast’s third-quarter earnings conference call.

Lazarus has been overseeing most of Comcast entertainment arm NBCUniversal’s TV operations as chairman of the NBCUniversal Media Group. He will serve as CEO of the new standalone cable channels company. NBCU CFO Anand Kini will become CFO and COO of the new firm.

Structured as a tax-free spinoff to Comcast shareholders, the transaction is expected to take around a year to complete. The new networks entity’s ownership structure will mirror that of Comcast, where chairman and CEO Brian Roberts holds a one-third voting stake. He won’t, however, have a board seat at the new company.