Fifteen years after Comcast bet that pairing the country's largest cable operator with a Hollywood studio would pay off, it is splitting the two apart.
A 15-year marriage unwinds
Comcast won approval to buy a controlling stake in NBCUniversal from General Electric in early 2011 and bought out the rest by 2013, taking full ownership of the NBC network, Universal Pictures and a sprawl of cable channels. On Sunday the company said its board had approved a tax-free spinoff splitting it into two publicly traded firms — one built around broadband and wireless infrastructure, the other a global media and entertainment company.
What each company gets
The new NBCUniversal will be substantial. According to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter, it will hold the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, Peacock, the Bravo cable channel, Universal Pictures and its TV studios, the Universal theme-park division, and Sky, the British broadcaster Comcast bought in 2018 for roughly $40 billion.
Comcast keeps its core connectivity business — the broadband and wireless network serving more than 65 million homes and businesses. It will retain a stake of up to 19.9 percent in the new NBCUniversal for up to a year after the split, to be sold off over time. Comcast shareholders will receive shares in both companies when the deal closes, which the company expects around mid-2027, pending regulatory review.
Not to be confused with Versant
This is Comcast's second major separation in months, and the distinction matters. In January 2026 it completed a separate spinoff of most of its legacy cable networks — CNBC, the channel formerly known as MSNBC, USA, Syfy, E!, Golf Channel and digital brands like Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes — into a company called Versant. Sunday's move is a different transaction, carving out NBCUniversal's premium assets — broadcast, film, streaming and parks — from the pipes-and-wireless business.
New leadership, and a warm market reception
The split installs new chief executives at both companies: Mike Cavanagh, a Comcast co-CEO, will lead the new NBCUniversal, while Michael Angelakis, a former Comcast finance chief, will run the slimmed-down Comcast. Founder Brian Roberts remains chairman of both and said the separation "will unlock a more entrepreneurial management approach."
Investors approved: Comcast shares jumped sharply on the news, climbing more than 20 percent, CNBC reported — a sign Wall Street had long seen the infrastructure and entertainment arms as pulling in different directions.
Why now
The move reflects an industry in upheaval. Streaming competition, shrinking cable-TV advertising and the soaring cost of content have made it harder to justify housing a capital-intensive network alongside a hits-driven studio. Freed from Comcast's balance sheet, the new NBCUniversal — a major studio plus a broadcast network, Peacock and Sky's European reach — gains the scale and flexibility to chase the deals a standalone entertainment company can pursue more nimbly. Comcast, for its part, can concentrate on the steadier cash flows of its network.
