Comcast Cable Spinoff Employee Response: Skepticism but also optimism

What is the mood among the supporters at the NBCUniversal cable networks and companies that Comcast wants to spin off next year?

As you might expect, there is some concern about the move to create ‘SpinCo’, spun off from Comcast and NBCU, with some unanswered questions about its future. And there is dismay at the perception that SpinCo is “a hodgepodge of crap,” as one employee put it: victims of the streaming wars. After all, Comcast essentially said that one of the reasons it is jettisoning the declining cable networks (excluding Bravo) is to improve the growth profile and valuation of the core business, with a focus on Peacock.

SpinCo includes basic cable networks MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel, along with digital properties Fandango, Rotten Tomatoes, GolfNow and SportsEngine. An official name for the new company, which will take about a year to separate from the rest of NBCU, is TBD.

NBCU executives past and present are feeling a little resigned to the fact that the heyday of cable television is over, and right now it’s all about managing a slowly dying company. No one is really surprised that Comcast would be the first media conglom to go this route: the company has often killed off underperforming cable networks, like Cloo, Style, and Esquire, rather than keeping them as zombie channels as competitors have done.

There’s a sense of sadness that NBCUniversal could have continued to invest in original fare for networks like USA and Syfy, but when the company shifted programming dollars to Peacock, “it becomes a bit of a self-fulfilling prophecy,” one executive said with a sigh. And that’s where the frustration comes in: under different management, perhaps E! or Syfy could have made the switch like Bravo did. “The mood is definitely a bit disappointed,” said this director.

Meanwhile, some about to disembark the SpinCo boat are skeptical about SpinCo’s financial prospects, led by CEO Mark Lazarus, former chairman of NBCUniversal Media Group. That’s despite Lazarus and Comcast executives touting the new company as positioned for growth, as a potential buyer of other media properties.

“I don’t think the general workforce, including myself, is sold on the robustness of this as a publicly traded entity,” said a longtime executive at one of the networks in the planned cable revamp.

That said, some employees believe the cable networks have been “neglected” amid Comcast and NBCU’s broader strategic priorities — and that as a standalone group they will now get some TLC. The cable networks remain profitable even as viewership and revenues decline. But those profits “have actually gone into Peacock and the theme parks,” an employee said. “As far as reinvestment goes, none of it goes back” to the cable networks.

Another employee of one of the SpinCo brands echoed that point: “There’s a lot we’ll miss [about being part of NBCU]There is excitement about the potential for further investment in our businesses.” This employee added that they “have a lot of respect for and believe in Mark Lazarus and Anand Kini, so with the new company under their leadership there is a lot of optimism.” (Kini, currently CFO of NBCUniversal and EVP of corporate strategy at Comcast, who will assume the role of CFO and Chief Operating Officer.)

Employees admit to feeling a little confused as some parts of the company are declining and seeing less investment, but NBCU just opened a beautiful new campus on the grounds of Universal City, with many new amenities and perks for the employees.

During a meeting with CNBC employees last week, Lazarus spoke about the need to diversify the revenue base. The business news network operates CNBC Pro, a premium subscription service that offers a range of exclusive content. But it could do more. As part of SpinCo, there’s a possibility that CNBC could make deals to bundle the network with partners that wouldn’t even qualify under NBCU’s Peacock-centric lens, said a CNBC official, who has finalized a hypothetical deal with Warner Bros. Discovery’s Max suggested.

Lazarus also met with MSNBC staffers last Wednesday, a group that includes stars like Rachel Maddow and Katy Tur. Some attendees were unsettled after Lazarus acknowledged that MSNBC may have to consider changing the name and signature rainbow peacock logo under the spinoff. He also had no concrete answers about how MSNBC’s newsgathering process would be unwound from NBC News.

Currently, many NBC News employees appear regularly on MSNBC’s daytime program, and there are many MSNBC programs that share NBC News’ journalistic work. Although CNBC operates more independently of NBC News, there is “a push for greater collaboration” between the two organizations; with the spinoff move, “I feel kind of resigned because we were asked to do all this integration with NBC and it was all for nothing,” the CNBC staffer said.

Meanwhile, some employees at SpinCo are disappointed that they could lose perks extended to Comcast employees, including tickets to Universal theme parks and free broadband and cable television in Comcast’s cable service areas. Comcast chairman and CEO “Brian Roberts will still own a third of the shares [SpinCo]so maybe we’ll still get free Comcast internet or whatever,” an employee said.

Within NBCUniversal’s production units, there’s actually not much fear about the cable spinoff: First of all, the fact that most of the programming has already focused on NBC, Peacock, and Bravo means the creation of SpinCo doesn’t mean much. a change of focus. And there’s some relief that there’s finally clarity on who’s in charge of the entertainment side, now firmly under Donna Langley, as Lazarus moves to the cable spinoff. “There is now clarity in decision-making at the top of the platform,” said one executive. “That’s very helpful, especially when we’re making shows and want to get clarity.”

The new structure with Langley at the helm brings marketing and creativity back together on the TV side, helping with show launches. And having network entertainment overseen by one boss (primetime was Langley’s territory, while late night reporting was to Lazarus) helps streamline things at NBC.

Last Tuesday (Nov. 19), a group of current and former NBCU executives gathered at a dinner in Los Angeles to toast Bonnie Hammer, the TV veteran who built and managed the company’s general entertainment cable networks during her long tenure , as she prepares to leave when her contract expires at the end of 2024. It was a complete coincidence that it was the same day Comcast announced the cable spinoff. But for that evening’s gathering, the symbolism of celebrating Hammer — once dubbed the “Queen of Cable” — was not lost amid news of NBCU’s impending cable schism.

— Brian Steinberg contributed to this article.