U.S. Comcast to spin off MSNBC, CNBC and other cable channels

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate Comcast Corporation is cleaving off a huge chunk of its television portfolio to create a new company composed of its cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC and USA Network.

The Philadelphia-based cable giant unveiled its plan to create a new publicly traded company as well as a new corporate structure for NBCUniversal on Wednesday. The new company, currently dubbed SpinCo, although that will change, will offer news, entertainment and sports channels reaching about 70 million U.S. homes and have the financial heft to acquire other channels, said a Comcast announcement.

"With significant financial resources from day one, SpinCo will be ideally positioned for success and highly attractive to investors, content creators, distributors and potential partners," Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts said in the statement.

The 7 billion U.S. dollars spinoff comes as traditional media companies grapple with the diminishing value of what was once an economic pillar of the entertainment business. For years, NBCUniversal's cable channels, including USA, Bravo, Syfy, Golf Channel and E!, provided the company's most reliable profits, The Los Angeles Times reported about the move.

"But as consumers shift to on-demand streaming platforms, the future of cable channels looks increasingly bleak. Comcast is taking an exit ramp on cable programming by creating a new company, comprising nearly all of NBCUniversal's current cable networks with the exception of Bravo," it added.