Comcast is carving off most of its cable channels. Will its new spinoff be a hunter or prey? The media giant last week put an upbeat spin on its move to shed what Wall Street sees as an albatross — the bulk of NBCUniversal ’s cable networks, which have seen their revenue growth stymied by the cord-cutting revolution. Now Comcast execs see a chance to push back. They may not be able to reverse the migration of onetime cable subscribers to streaming, but maybe — just maybe — they can win bigger audiences overall with a spinoff that they can add to over time. The plan, Comcast president Mike Cavanagh said, lets the company “play offense in a changing media landscape.” This new “SpinCo,” which will take about a year to separate from the rest of NBCU, will house basic cablers MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Oxygen, E!, Syfy and Golf Channel. It will also include digital properties Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes, golf-course booking service GolfNow and youth-sports platform SportsEngine. Already, Mark Lazarus, the NBCU boss who will serve as the new company’s CEO, has suggested SpinCo could look to snap up a TV station group or sports entities, according to two people familiar with his meeting with MSNBC staff. “We see a real opportunity to invest and build additional scale, and I’m excited about the growth opportunities this transition will unlock,” Lazarus said in announcing the deal. But there’s another possible outcome: A private equity firm or strategic buyer could make a play and try to do the same thing Comcast wants to. After all, the cable networks will still bring in money for the foreseeable future, thanks to existing cable carriage contracts. The long-term outlook for linear cable is fairly bleak, but there are predictable cash flows to be mined for at least a few more years. “Once they’re independent, we could see [private equity] firms interested in acquiring Comcast’s SpinCo with the cable networks,” says Howard Gutman, private equity strategy and coverage lead for MorganFranklin Consulting. “This is an opportunity for Comcast to look at themselves and say, ‘Some assets may not be a priority for me, but could be a priority for a new owner.’” That’s not the future Comcast is contemplating in public. At the MSNBC meeting, Lazarus described the new company as a “well-funded start-up.” It won’t be saddled with the massive debt of rivals like Warner Bros. Discovery and Paramount Global. According to Comcast, SpinCo will have a “well-capitalized balance sheet with strong credit metrics.” TV Static Revenue in NBCU’s media segment has stalled amid declines at its linear networks and growth at Peacock. The economics of cable are in seemingly irrevocable decline. WBD in August unveiled an enormous $9.1 billion write-down of its TV assets, citing business headwinds as well as the projected loss of its lucrative agreement with the NBA to air games on its cable networks. A day later, Paramount followed suit, revealing a $5.98 billion impairment charge for its cable TV biz ahead of its acquisition by Skydance Media. But Comcast has managed to stay in better shape. Since 2015, it has unsentimentally shut down eight networks (G4, Olympic Channel, NBCSN, Chiller, Universal HD, Esquire Network, Cloo and Universal Sports). “Comcast has been more aggressive than any other media company in shutting down basic cable networks over the years,” says Scott Robson, senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence. It’s not surprising the company is spinning off the cable networks, which “are more vulnerable for future declines than the broadcast networks due to the contraction of the pay-TV universe,” he says. SpinCo is also a defensive move, aimed at keeping the NBC broadcast network and the Peacock streaming hub apart from the downward-sloping cable TV business. The “new” NBCU will comprise NBC and stations, Peacock, Bravo, NBC News Group, NBC Sports, Telemundo, the Universal theme parks and resorts, and NBCU’s film and television studios. Notably, reality-TV powerhouse Bravo is not a passenger on the SpinCo boat, as NBCU sees it as essential to the health of Peacock, where favorites like the “Real Housewives” and “Below Deck” franchises fuel a considerable amount of the streamer’s viewership. As Cavanagh indicated on Comcast’s Oct. 31 earnings call, offloading the cable nets is designed to boost the core company’s overall growth profile (and, by extension, its market valuation). The cable spinoff “should be positive for Comcast shareholders,” Raymond James analyst Frank Louthan wrote in a research note last week. SpinCo’s relative valuation “will be lower than where the parent is currently trading, even though it is likely a cash cow for multiple years.” Separating from the NBCU mothership will introduce new challenges. SpinCo is angling to get better scale through potential rollups. However, as Louthan notes, the cable group will experience “dis-synergies” in the near term. As a stand-alone business, it will have more limited pricing power in asking for bump-ups in carriage fees. There are also questions about, for example, how MSNBC will disconnect from NBC News and what will happen to NBCU’s integrated ad-sales team. Whether SpinCo ends up buying other distressed media assets or opting to sell the cable networks (as a whole or individually), Comcast’s formation of a separate cable-network company signals more transformative M&A for the roiled pay-TV sector. After the Paramount deal with Skydance, “Comcast knows that there are people and groups that are attracted to these kinds of entertainment assets,” says Gutman. “For the broader media space, it tells you that these companies will begin setting themselves up for consolidation over the next few years.”
A melee broke out at midfield of Ohio Stadium after Michigan upset No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 on Saturday. After the Wolverines' fourth straight win in the series, players converged at the block "O" to plant its flag. The Ohio State players were in the south end zone singing their alma mater in front of the student section. When the Buckeyes saw the Wolverines' flag, they rushed toward the 50-yard line. Social media posts showed Michigan offensive lineman Raheem Anderson carrying the flag on a long pole to midfield, where the Wolverines were met by dozens of Ohio State players and fights broke out. Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer was seen ripping the flag off the pole and taking the flag as he scuffled with several people trying to recover the flag. A statement from the Ohio State Police Department read: "Following the game, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation. During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray. OSUPD is the lead agency for games and will continue to investigate." Michigan running back Kalel Mullings on FOX said: "For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game. It's bad for the sport, bad for college football. At the end of the day, some people got to learn how to lose, man. "You can't be fighting and stuff just because you lost the game. We had 60 minutes and four quarters to do all that fighting. Now people want to talk and fight. That's wrong. It's bad for the game. Classless, in my opinion. People got to be better." Once order was restored, officers cordoned the 50-yard line, using bicycles as barriers. Ohio State coach Ryan Day in his postgame press conference said he wasn't sure what happened. "I don't know all the details of it. But I know that these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren't going to let that happen," he said. "I'll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field and certainly we're embarrassed at the fact we lost the game, but there's some prideful guys on our team that weren't just going to let that happen." The Big Ten has not yet released a statement on the incident. --Field Level MediaTrump taps Charles Kushner, father of his son-in-law, as envoy to France
A melee broke out at midfield of Ohio Stadium after Michigan upset No. 2 Ohio State 13-10 on Saturday. After the Wolverines' fourth straight win in the series, players converged at the block "O" to plant its flag. The Ohio State players were in the south end zone singing their alma mater in front of the student section. When the Buckeyes saw the Wolverines' flag, they rushed toward the 50-yard line. Social media posts showed Michigan offensive lineman Raheem Anderson carrying the flag on a long pole to midfield, where the Wolverines were met by dozens of Ohio State players and fights broke out. Buckeyes defensive end Jack Sawyer was seen ripping the flag off the pole and taking the flag as he scuffled with several people trying to recover the flag. A statement from the Ohio State Police Department read: "Following the game, officers from multiple law enforcement agencies assisted in breaking up an on-field altercation. During the scuffle, multiple officers representing Ohio and Michigan deployed pepper spray. OSUPD is the lead agency for games and will continue to investigate." Michigan running back Kalel Mullings on FOX said: "For such a great game, you hate to see stuff like that after the game. It's bad for the sport, bad for college football. At the end of the day, some people got to learn how to lose, man. "You can't be fighting and stuff just because you lost the game. We had 60 minutes and four quarters to do all that fighting. Now people want to talk and fight. That's wrong. It's bad for the game. Classless, in my opinion. People got to be better." Once order was restored, officers cordoned the 50-yard line, using bicycles as barriers. Ohio State coach Ryan Day in his postgame press conference said he wasn't sure what happened. "I don't know all the details of it. But I know that these guys are looking to put a flag on our field and our guys weren't going to let that happen," he said. "I'll find out exactly what happened, but this is our field and certainly we're embarrassed at the fact we lost the game, but there's some prideful guys on our team that weren't just going to let that happen." The Big Ten has not yet released a statement on the incident. --Field Level MediaThe Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) risks being socially and politically outpaced by Muslim fundamentalist outfits if its State leadership continues its current dalliance with the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and the Jamaat-e-Islami, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said. Inaugurating the Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] area committee office in Kozhikode, Mr. Vijayan said the current IUML State president Sadikali Shihab Thangal was responsible for the party’s “fundamentalist drift” and the former was not above political criticism. ‘A heavy price paid’ He said the Congress had paid a heavy political price for tacitly encouraging the Sangh Parivar to further the latter’s vicious and communally divisive agenda to destroy the very idea and fabric of secularism in India. Mr. Vijayan said the Congress actively encouraged Hindu majoritarian political build-up that culminated in the Babri Masjid’s demolition in 1992, despite cautionary red flags raised by secular parties. “The then Congress Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, allowed the Sangh Parivar mob to pull down the masjid by remaining incommunicado even though chaos unfolded. Decades later, Congress’s top leaders endorsed the construction of the Ram Temple over the mosque’s ruins by sending silver bricks and donations,” Mr. Vijayan said. “Congress suffered badly and but has still learned nothing. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ascended to power in Congress strongholds in north and central India. Soft Hindutva blurred the line between the Congress and the BJP,” Mr. Vijayan said. He said ministerial berths mattered more to the IUML’s leadership than the party’s founding reformist ideals. “IUML clung to power with Congress in Kerala in 1992 for a handful of its leaders to remain in the Congress government. Comparably, the IUML is now actively courting fundamentalist outfits for a few votes to shore up its increasingly shaky base in north Kerala. The IUML is forsaking its traditional secular democratic ideals for the elusive electoral dividend to its peril,” Mr. Vijayan said. Against Jamaat Mr. Vijayan said the Jamaat-e-Islami, which forsook democracy for its stated ideal of establishing an Islamic caliphate in India, fielded a candidate against the CPI(M)‘s Mohamad Yousuf Tarigami in the Jammu and Kashmir Assembly elections at the BJP’s instance. He pointed out that the SDPI leadership spoke in a “terrorist language” when he criticised the IUML leadership for aligning with Muslim fundamentalist organisations against the LDF in Kerala. Mr. Vijayan said the bypoll results belied the Congress-BJP-IUML claim that the LDF government was the target of intense anti-incumbency anger. He said the LDF retained its Chelakkara Assembly seat with a resounding majority and improved its vote share in the Palakkad bypoll despite heavy anti-government campaigning by Muslim fundamentalist and Sangh Parivar forces for the UDF. Published - November 24, 2024 09:40 pm IST Copy link Email Facebook Twitter Telegram LinkedIn WhatsApp Reddit
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BILBAO, Spain : Kylian Mbappe has struggled to reach the performance levels that were expected when he signed for Real Madrid, but he has been working hard to return to his old-self, coach Carlo Ancelotti acknowledged on Wednesday. After missing a penalty in Real's Champions League loss at Liverpool last week, Mbappe failed to convert another spot-kick on Wednesday as the LaLiga champions slumped to a 2-1 defeat at Athletic Bilbao. It was another lacklustre performance by Mbappe and Real Madrid, which led to their fourth loss in the last seven games in all competitions, raising more questions about their form with the France captain firmly under the spotlight. "He is at a lot more than just 1 per cent (of his potential), but he's not at his best," Ancelotti told a press conference. "However, we have to give him time to adapt (to Real Madrid). He has scored 10 goals and is working hard to improve and to do better. "I haven't spoken to him yet. It was a complicated, even, hard-fought, competitive game. We missed a penalty... I don't evaluate a player's game because of a missed penalty... sometimes you score and sometimes you miss. Obviously he's sad, disappointed, but we have to keep going." Real missed the chance to close the gap on leaders Barcelona who top the standings on 37 points, four ahead of Ancelotti's side in second place and five above Atletico Madrid in third, with both the chasing clubs having a game in hand. "The match was evenly matched. Athletic are a very dangerous team, we competed and fought. I think the match was worth a draw," Ancelotti said. "But it is what it is... We're still in contention and have to keep fighting. We could have got a better result, but we're here and we have to think about Saturday's game at Girona."
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BELLVILLE — DJ Sanders doesn’t like attention. But as the Bellville senior stood in front of a packed gym on Wednesday morning to sign to play college football during the early signing period, all eyes were on the 6-foot-3, 315-pound defensive lineman. Interview after interview, phone call and texts after another, Sanders maintained himself. He’s been that way through the entire recruiting process, Bellville head coach Grady Rowe told the crowd. “If you know DJ Sanders, you know what I mean,” Rowe said to a student body of 741 in a town with a population of 4,200. Ultimately, Sanders signed with Texas A&M on Wednesday. The four-star prospect has been committed to the Aggies since August. He’s A&M’s highest-rated defensive lineman in the Aggies’ 24-member 2025 class, which is ranked eighth nationally in the 247Sports Composite rankings. A late push to flip his pledge came from rival Texas, though. The Longhorns stayed on him all the way up until Wednesday morning when he got a call from a staff member in Austin. Sanders told the Texas coach he was going to stick with A&M because he’s a man of his word. Sanders admits it was hard to keep, but he stayed strong. A&M announced he had signed at 8:30 a.m. “My family, they always say be true to your word,” Sanders said, “so I had to stand by that.” A&M head coach Mike Elko said Wednesday that Sanders was a player who was heavily sought after during the recruiting process as Sanders held more than 20 offers. Elko and his staff were excited when Sanders put pen to paper on Wednesday. “We had a lot of kids in this class who committed to us early that we set out to get early, DJ certainly is one of them, that a lot of schools never stopped [recruiting],” Elko said. “I think as the process goes on, it becomes a money grab. You see people throwing more and more and more to try to get kids to try and change their mind. We want kids that are about value. We want kids that are about a little bit more than that. “I think it validates when all of those kids sign with us that we picked the right character kids, the right character families. You have a group of kids that are committed to coming here to play at Texas A&M to win championships, to go to the NFL. I think finding kids that that is the main focus in this day-and-age with all of this is really critical and I think we were able to do that.” The biggest kid in the room Sanders has always been a big kid. After all, he was born 10 pounds, 8 ounces. Howard Bryan, Sanders’ maternal grandfather, coached DJ and his younger brother, DD Murray, who signed to play running back at Arkansas State on Wednesday, for youth football and basketball. “If it’s a dream, we don’t want to wake up,” Bryant said. “It’s been wonderful. It means a lot, something we talked about with the boys when they were like 8 years old.” Rowe first noticed Sanders had special talent when he watched him dribble a basketball in elementary school. Sanders hit a growth spurt in middle school. His mother, Connie Sanders-Franklin, said she was surprised how big and tall Sanders got. When Sanders reached high school, Rowe spoke with his family and had a simple message: Get ready. It’s going to get crazy. Soon after in a scrimmage, Bellville was missing a defensive end. Rowe called up Sanders. When Sanders beat a Navasota offensive tackle like there was nobody there, Rowe turned to his coaches and told them, “Boys, we got one.” Bellville’s field is nicknamed “The Pasture of Pain.” Sanders made it painful place for his opponents to play. As a four-year letter winner, he had over 300 tackles, 42.5 tackles for loss and 36.5 sacks. Bellville won four straight district titles and made a Class 4A Division II state championship game appearance in 2023. It was during Sanders’ sophomore year of high school that Bryant realized his grandson was becoming a special talent. He noticed the way Sanders loved the game. “He loved being around it and that’s what he wanted to do," Bryant said. A hectic process Although Rowe anticipated Sanders’ recruitment would get crazy, he said nobody in Sanders’ circle was aware how crazy it would actually get, right down to the wire. Rowe recalled how from the beginning though, Sanders was clear on one thing: When he committed, that was the school he was going to attend. When A&M hired Elko last November, the Aggies’ new head coach showed up to Bellville during his first week on the job and made it clear that Sanders was a priority target. Over the coming months, Sanders built relationships with A&M’s defensive line coaches — Tony Jerod-Eddie and Sean Spencer — that were different from other coaches. Sanders-Franklin said A&M was the school her son visited the most throughout the process. Bryant was there for every one of them. Sanders took an official visit to A&M in June. Mom shared advice along the way. “Don’t go where the money takes you,” Sanders-Franklin said. “Go where you’re happy, where you’ll have fun and enjoy college years. That’s what I really instilled in him." When Sanders announced his commitment on Aug. 7, he texted Sanders-Franklin early in the day that he had made a decision. She immediately went home and asked him if he was sure he wanted to do this. He did. A simple announcement came via social media at around 10 p.m. that night. “A guy that didn’t want to be live-streamed when he committed and just didn’t want all the attention on him is rare,” Rowe said. “It’s special. He had college coaches not knowing what was going on, and then you throw in the media that goes along with it, at times it was kind of fun because they couldn’t figure anything out and I would tell them, ‘Hey, there’s nothing to figure out. This is DJ.’” The battle was far from over, though. Schools sought Sanders for the next four months up until Wednesday. “They didn’t back off until the very end,” Sanders-Franklin. “They kept it going. They didn’t give up.” But Sanders never wavered. “Up until the last minute,” Rowe said, “he stuck to his guns when there were reasons possibly not to.” A hard-working family man During A&M’s in-house signing day show, Jerod-Eddie said Sanders is built like a brahma bull, but is light on his feet like a ballerina. He added that Sanders moves with grace and has versatility. “This guy’s got tremendous upside,” Spencer added. “Humble kid, great family. Mrs. Connie, Mr. Howard, it’s just a great family and really built for the Aggies.” Sanders projects to play defensive tackle at A&M. He said he likes the way Elko and the Aggie defensive coaches move players around the line. “He’s going to be a guy that’s going to line up, next play, go, then go to the next play and he’s going to give them all he has, but you’re not going to see a whole bunch of me, me, me stuff,” Rowe said. Nothing comes before family to Sanders’ kin. Sanders-Franklin was born and raised in Bellville. Her family lives all over the place, but she stayed in Bellville because of her boys. They wanted to grow up and play football there. More than a dozen of them gathered inside the Bellville High School gym on Wednesday to not only celebrate Sanders, but Murray as well. After dozens of pictures were taken with family, friends, coaches and classmates, Sanders shared he was excited to be done with the process. Sanders-Franklin said she thought her son made the right decision for himself. Sanders described himself as a leader and faithful. He stayed faithful to the Aggies on Wednesday. Not doing so would have brought attention upon himself. And that’s not DJ Sanders. “Let his word be his word,” Bryant said. “That’s what he promised and that’s what he did.”Trump seeks to have Georgia election case dismissed, citing presidential immunity
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On Saturday, Palestinian militant group Hamas released a video featuring Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American hostage, pleading for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to facilitate his release. The video, lasting over three minutes, shows Alexander visibly distressed and addressing his family, Israeli leaders, and Trump. Edan's mother, Yael, spoke at a rally in Tel Aviv, describing the mixture of hope and despair brought by the video. She called for swift action from Israeli officials to negotiate with Hamas and secure the hostages' release, emphasizing the emotional toll on their families. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu labeled the video as cruel psychological warfare. Efforts are underway to negotiate a ceasefire and secure the hostages' release, with Hamas leaders heading to Cairo for talks. Meanwhile, families and international leaders are urged to intensify efforts for a resolution. (With inputs from agencies.)