The Streaming Divide: How NBCU’s Entertainment Networks Ended Up On Different Sides In Comcast Spinoff After Years Of Integration

Comcast’s decision to spin off most of its cable networks has split NBCUniversal‘s linear networks into two groups, with NBC and Bravo (as well as Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo) staying within Comcast alongside streamer Peacock and the TV studios, and the rest, including USA Network, Syfy, E! and Oxygen as well as MSNBC, CNBC and the Golf Channel, moving to stand-alone offshoot SpinCo led by NBCUniversal Media Group chairman Mark Lazarus.

As for how the lines were drawn among the English-language networks, a simplistic answer would be paraphrasing James Carville’s 1992 quip, “it’s the streaming, stupid.” One look at Peacock’s list of Top 10 shows provides a clue into the decision — it is dominated by NBC and Bravo titles like Law & Order: SVU and the Chicago, Real Housewives and Below Deck franchises.

The two networks’ volume of original content has the scale and does so well on Peacock, they are the only two NBCU linear brands that have a next-day deal with the streamer for their shows. For the rest, it is a case-by-case situation, with USA/Syfy’s recently departed Chucky, for example, being made available on Peacock the next day one season and seven days later another season. For its first three seasons on Syfy, Resident Alien also had a next-day pact for Peacock. but no arrangement has been made yet for its upcoming fourth season on USA.

Among NBCU’s cable networks, it addition to its streaming prowess, Bravo stands out for its ability to transcend linear TV and become a popular culture brand with wide mass appeal that has spawned sold-out live events like BravoCon.

While there are some join properties that need to be untangled, including E!’s People’s Choice Awards which E! has been sharing with NBC and Peacock, there is far less overlap between the Comcast and SpinCo-bound networks on the entertainment side than there is in news, with the closely integrated NBC News and MSNBC, and sports, with NBC Sports running the Golf Channel and NBCU’s current sports rights, including the English Premiere League, spanning NBC, Peacock and cable networks such as USA and Syfy.

However, ever since the 2020 restructuring, all English-language entertainment content has been centralized, initially under Susan Rovner. After her departure, the oversight moved to Frances Berwick, Chairman, NBCUniversal Entertainment, who, following Lazarus’ departure to lead SpinCo, now reports solely to Donna Langley, Chairman, NBCUniversal Studio Group and Chief Content Officer.

A seismic change like the division of NBCU’s linear assets is expected to lead to restructuring and likely staff cuts within NBCUniversal’s entertainment operation when the dust settles on the new company, slated to be up and running in a year.

As Comcast said in its announcement Wednesday, the offshoot company is entering into a transition services agreement with NBCUniversal “to allow SpinCo to operate seamlessly from day one.”

Until SpinCo establishes its own content team, potentially bringing in some NBCU executives, Berwick and her team are expected to stay the course, continuing to oversee development and production for networks on both sides of the pending separation. (Berwick, who came out of Bravo, has remained close to the brand as she has claimed the NBCU ladder.)

Under NBCU’s integrated structure, Berwick’s direct reports — Lisa Katz, President of Scripted Content; Corie Henson, EVP, Entertainment Unscripted Content; and Rachel Smith EVP, Unscripted Content, Lifestyle & Documentaries — have been overseeing scripted and unscripted development and current programming across the entire entertainment portfolio, including NBC, Peacock and the cable networks.

While the vast majority of scripted fare has been for NBC, Peacock and Bravo, there are a handful of originals on Syfy like SurrealEstate, and USA, including recent Syfy transplant Resident Alien.

The current strategy, which involves largely lower-cost co-productions for Syfy and the revival of the Blue Sky brand with modestly budgeted procedurals for USA, will continue. The first USA series ordered under the Blue Sky revival was The Rainmaker, which comes from companies outside of NBCU, Blumhouse and Lionsgate. Resident Alien is the only current scripted series on the SpinCo side of the company that is produced by Universal Studio Group, which is staying at Comcast.

The volume split between Comcast and SpinCo entities on the unscripted side is not as lopsided, with E! and USA both carrying a roster of reality/competition series that are under Henson’s purview — along with the NBC and Peacock unscripted offerings — including E!’s House of Villains as well as USA’s Scare Tactics, produced by Universal Studio Group’s alternative division, and the upcoming The Anonymous.

Then there is the true crime portfolio of Oxygen, including staples such as Dick Wolf’s Cold Justice, shepherded by Smith, who also oversees the entire Bravo slate.

Right now, there were only two executives working at SpinCo, whose assets are valued at $7 billion: CEO Lazarus and CFO Anand Kini. They won’t be in a rush, with Comcast CEO Brian Roberts stressing that the building of SpinCo as a separate public company “will be done well versus done quickly.”

That means it may take awhile forSpinCo to build a content team, a move that could take a back seat to potential M&A activity, with Lazarus stressing Wednesday “a real opportunity to invest and build additional scale.”

If that happens, depending on what assets are brought into the fold, they could come with content executives already in place. The list of possibilities runs the gamut from networks owned by Warner Bros Discovery or Paramount to stand-alone companies/JVs like AMC Networks and A&E Networks.