MUMBAI: American media and technology company Comcast Corporation will take complete control of NBCUniversal by acquiring General Electric?s (GE) entire 49 per cent common equity stake in the joint venture for approximately $16.7 billion.

NBCUniversal will also purchase from GE the properties used by NBCUniversal at 30 Rockefeller Plaza and CNBC?s headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, NJ for approximately $1.4 billion.

Comcast Corporation owns a controlling 51 per cent interest in NBCUniversal, with GE holding a 49 per cent stake. In 2011, Comcast acquired a 51 per cent majority stake in media conglomerate NBCUniversal from GE.

The acquisition accelerates GE?s divestiture ahead of a redemption period that would have begun in July 2014 and solidifies Comcast?s position as a leading media and technology company. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of this year.

"This is an exciting day for Comcast as we have agreed to accelerate the purchase of NBCUniversal. The management team at GE has been a wonderful partner during the past two years and their support has been very valuable. Our decision to acquire GE?s ownership is driven by our sense of optimism for the future prospects of NBCUniversal and our desire to capture future value that we hope to create for our shareholders," said Comcast Corporation Chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts.

"We believe the terms of the transaction are attractive and have planned for this event by taking a number of financial steps to prepare our balance sheet. We believe we are in a strong and unique position to continue to grow and build value in our combined company."

The transactions will be funded with $11.4 billion of cash on hand, $4 billion of subsidiary senior unsecured notes to be issued to GE, $2 billion of borrowings under Comcast and/or subsidiary bank credit facilities and $725 million of subsidiary preferred stock to be issued to GE.

MUMBAI: NBCUniversal and Cablevision Systems Corp have entered into an extensive affiliation agreement to continue to offer portfolio of sports, news and entertainment broadcast and cable content to Cablevision TV customers.

The long-term agreement includes expansive rights to on-demand content from NBCUniversal?s cable and broadcast network portfolio, and access to live channels across multiple platforms, both in and out of the home.

In addition, the comprehensive agreement covers retransmission consent for NBC and Telemundo owned stations and continued carriage of NBCUniversal?s top rated cable networks including USA, Bravo Media, cloo, Chiller, CNBC, E!, G4, MSNBC, mun2, NBC Sports Network, Oxygen Media, Style Media, Syfy, Telemundo Media and The Golf Channel as well as Comcast Sports Network Philadelphia.
 
?Cablevision has always been a terrific partner to NBCUniversal and I?m thrilled they continue to recognize the worth of our top quality broadcast and cable networks and the value a multi-platform offering brings to their customers,? said NBCUniversal Executive Vice President, Content Distribution Matt Bond. "This broad agreement validates how content providers and distributors can come together and develop mutually beneficial deals of this magnitude.?

?This agreement ensures our customers will continue to enjoy many of the great networks and brands of cable television for years to come, including NBC, USA, CNBC and Bravo,? said Cablevision?s senior vice president of programming acquisition Tom Montemagno. ?It also, for the first time, allows us to deliver this programming to our customers outside the home, and we look forward offering a variety of these new NBCUniversal services starting early next year.?

MUMBAI: Cableready, the international television programme distribution and development company, has closed a series of global sales and renewal agreements which collectively exceed 315 hours of programming. The announcement was made by president, CEO Gary Lico.

He said, "As illustrated by the latest round of new deals and renewals, Cableready‘s diverse catalogue continues to attract return customers as well as forging new relationships with various broadcasters and platforms. We look to continue this momentum as we head to Mipcom."

The following sales and renewals deals have been closed by CABLEready as it prepares for the Mipcom market in Cannes, France next week:

? HBO Central Europe licensed 26 episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio‘, the long running interview series hosted by James Lipton, including the Brad Pitt episode.

? Multicanal (Spain) licensed six episodes of ‘Big Five Challenge‘, the African safari contestant show.

? NBCUniversal Latin America licensed 10 additional episodes of entertainment news magazine series ‘Hollywood Dailies‘.

? Turner Latin America licensed 50 episodes of movie countdown series ‘Hollywood‘s Top Ten‘.

? After a successful premiere with episode one, AETN‘s Bio (US) licensed episodes two through five of ‘Women on Death Row‘, a documentary series that offers a glimpse into the lives of woman who have committed the ultimate crime ? murder.

? Discovery‘s Destination America (US) licensed 11 titles from LMNO Productions, including ‘Secrets of Muscle Cars‘, ‘Secrets of High End Hawaii‘ and ‘World‘s Best Orlando‘.

? AETN UK has renewed season 12 of ‘Medical Detectives‘.

? Foxtel (Australia) renewed seasons one through five, as well as seasons 11 and 13 of ‘Forensic Files‘, a series that takes viewers through every step of a forensic investigations.

? MSM (Singapore) renewed 52 episodes of ‘Hollywood One on One‘, the series that gives viewers an up-close and uncensored look at the world‘s biggest films and top actors.

? Intra Communications (Russia) licensed 13 episodes of ‘The Minimalist‘, cooking series featuring New York Times food writer, culinary expert and TV personality Mark Bittman.

? SoHo Channel (New Zealand) licensed five episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio‘, including the Judd Apatow episode.

? Studio U7 (Russia) licensed 19 episodes of the procedural crime series ‘Medical Detectives‘.

? Hulu.com (US digital) licensed 13 titles from Alliant Content, including ‘Accident Investigator‘, ‘Billion Dollar Disasters‘, ‘Black Widow Women‘, ‘Fire and Ice‘ and ‘Gods of Destruction‘.

? Proxima Video VOD (Bulgaria) licensed five titles, including ‘Great Museums‘ and ‘It Could Happen Tomorrow‘.

 
CABLEready also licensed episodes of ‘Inside the Actors Studio‘ to several airlines. British Airways, Swiss International Airlines and Etihad Airways licensed the ‘Mad Men‘ episode, Korea Airline licensed the Colin Firth episode and Oman Air licensed the Brad Pitt episode.

MUMBAI: US media conglomerate NBCUniversal will provide 5,535 hours of coverage for the 2012 London Olympics across NBC, NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC, Bravo, Telemundo, NBCOlympics.com, two specialty channels, and the first-ever 3D platform.

NBCUniversal will surpasses the coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics by nearly 2,000 hours. It was also announced that NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of coverage, the most ever for an Olympic broadcast network, largely attributable to an increase in daytime coverage.

NBC is paying the IOC $1.1 billion for the rights for this event, a 32 per cent jump compared to what it paid for the 2008 edition in China.

NBC Sports Group chairman Mark Lazarus said, "We are only able to provide this level of coverage to US viewers because of the unmatched array of NBCUniversal assets. Whether on television or online, on broadcast or cable, in English or in Spanish, NBCUniversal has the London Olympics covered, providing the American viewer with more choices than ever to watch the Games."

NBCUniversal is presenting its 13th Olympic Games and seventh consecutive, both the most by any US media company. ABC is second with 10 and four (twice), respectively.

London will be NBCUniversal?s seventh consecutive Summer Games, having presented each one since Seoul in 1988.

The 5,535 hours are the equivalent of 231 days of coverage.

NBCUniversal will average 291 hours of coverage per day over London?s 19 days (including two days of soccer competition prior to the Opening Ceremony).

The networks of NBCU will provide coverage of all 32 sports and all 302 medal competitions.

NBC will broadcast 272.5 hours of London Olympic coverage over 17 days, the most extensive coverage ever provided by an Olympic broadcast network, and nearly 50 hours more than the 225 hours for Beijing in 2008.

Daytime coverage has increased significantly for London. Coverage will begin on most weekdays at 10 a.m. ET/PT, immediately following NBC News? TODAY, which is originating from London.

On weekends, NBC?s daytime coverage will begin as early as 5 am.

NBC Sports Network will serve as the home to US team sports, with 292.5 hours of total coverage from 2012 London Olympics this summer, including 257.5 hours of original programming - an average of more than 14 hours per day - the most-ever for an Olympic cable network.

MSNBC will carry 155.5 hours of a wide variety of long-form Olympic programming over 19 days.

CNBC will serve as the home of Olympic boxing this summer, including the debut of women?s boxing. The channel will televise 73 hours of boxing coverage over 16 days -- from elimination bouts to the men?s and women?s finals.

Bravo will act as the home of Olympic tennis this summer, televising 56 hours of long-form tennis coverage from July 28-August 3.

NBCOlympics.com will live stream every event and sport for the first time ever. In all, the site will live stream more than 3,500 total programming hours, including the awarding of all 302 medals.

NBCOlympics.com will live stream NBCU cable channels NBC Sports Network, MSNBC, CNBC and Bravo, which will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers.

Two apps - one focused on live streaming, one on short-form highlights, schedules, results, columns, and more - will be available for mobile and tablet users. The vast majority of content will only be available to authenticated cable, satellite or telco customers.

NBCUniversal also announced the Spanish-language Olympic coverage in the company?s history, offering more than 173 hours of the upcoming London 2012 Olympics on elemundo."

The 173 hours of Spanish-language coverage by Telemundo nearly equals the total coverage broadcast by NBC for the 1996 Atlanta Olympics (176.5).

Specialty channels for basketball and soccer are available to cable, satellite and telco providers, and will total 770 hours of coverage.

Panasonic US and the NBC Sports Group announced in January that they will partner to make the London 2012 Olympic Games available in 3D to all U.S. distributors who carry Olympic coverage on cable, satellite and telco -- nearly 100 per cent of the multichannel industry.

The effort will produce 242 hours of coverage and mark the first time that the Olympic Games will be distributed in the U.S. in 3D.