Comcast will acquire a 51% interest in NBC Universal from General Electric in a deal valued at $30 billion.
As part of the deal, the French media company Vivendi will sell its 20% stake for $5.8 billion, leaving GE with a 49% stake.
This deal creates a massive media giant with assets spanning broadcast, cable advertising, telephone, internet, and movie and television advertising, as well as theme parks. NBC, the network in the middle of it all, will be just a small part of it.
NBCU's cable presence will be much more prominent with the addition of Comcast's Versus, the Golf Channel and E! Entertainment to its portfolio, which includes CNBC, MSNBC, USA, Bravo and SyFy.
However, integrating it all while winning regulatory approval could take well over a year.
What it will mean for media buyers and any full service ad agency is hard to say at this point. The upside for marketing companies is the ability to place clients across a wider range of media outlets. However, such deals are difficult to execute, and media buyers have long turned away from them.
The downside for media buyers is that consolidation typically leads to higher prices.
But Wall Street analysts have favored the deal, believing Comcast is far better suited to run an entertainment company than GE.
Jeff Zucker will remain chief executive of NBCU, reporting to Comcast CEO Steve Burke, but at some point Zucker will likely be replaced. Zucker has survived under GE but his track record as a CEO has not been up to par. He's been widely criticized for managing for the bottom line and blamed in particular for NBC's tumble to 4th place in the ratings.
Presumably an early goal for Comcast will be to invest dollars and talent in making NBC the flagship TV property once again.
