NBCUniversal

NBCUniversal
Founded	2004
President	Steve Burke
Notable Works	Battlestar Galactica Law & Order House, M.D.

NBCUniversal is an American media/entertainment company, currently owned by Comcast. The company owns a large number of networks and local stations and is one of the leading producers of television programs.

NBCUniversal was formed in May 2004 by the merger of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment. NBC owner General Electric initially owned 80% of the new company, while the French multinational media company Vivendi owned 20%. In January 2011, transactions were completed, which made GE a 49% owner, with Comcast Corporation taking over as NBC's majority holder, owning 51% of the company.

On March 19, 2013, NBCUniversal became fully owned by Comcast, following its purchase of GE's 49% stake.

US television networks and channels

Broadcast Network

• NBC

NBCUniversal Cable

• Bravo
• Chiller
• Cloo
• E!
• Esquire Network (joint venture: NBCUniversal (50%), Hearst Corporation (50%))
• G4
• Hulu (joint venture: NBCUniversal (32%), The Walt Disney Company (32%), 20th Century Fox (36%))
• Oxygen
• Syfy
• Universal Kids (previously called PBS Kids Sprout and Sprout; Sprout continues as a daytime block on the network)
• USA

NBCUniversal Hispanic

• mun2
• Telemundo

NBCUniversal News

• CNBC
• MSNBC
• The Weather Channel (joint venture: NBCUniversal, Blackstone Group, Bain Capital)

NBC Sports

• Comcast Network
• Golf Channel
• NHL Network (joint venture: NBCUniversal (15.6%), National Hockey League (84.4%))
• NBCSN (previously NBC Sports Network, Versus and Outdoor Life Network)
• Olympic Channel (previously called Bravo HD+ Universal HD)
• Universal Sports (joint venture: NBCUniversal (8%), InterMedia Partners (92%))

Defunct

• Trio (predecessor of Cloo)
• AZN Television (through International Media Distribution)
• Seeso

Television Production

Universal Television

NBCUniversal's main television production arm - currently named Universal Television - is the result of the merger of NBC Studios and Universal Network Television, effective May 12, 2004, under the name NBC Universal Television Studio. Effective June 14, 2007, NBC Universal Television Studio was renamed Universal Media Studios, and on September 12, 2011, it gained its current name.

Former names of the television production arm include:

NBC brands

• NBC Productions (1982-1996; in-house shows made prior to 1982 were produced directly by the network before NBC Productions was established as a separate division)
• NBC Studios (1996-May 12, 2004)

Universal brands (owned by MCA 1943-1995, Seagram 1995-2000, and Vivendi 2000-2004)

• Revue Productions (founded as a music producing company 1943, relaunched as a MCA's television production subsidiary in 1950)
• Revue Studios (1958–1963)
• Universal Television (1963–1998, September 12, 2011-present)
• Studios USA (1998–2002)
• Universal Network Television (2002–May 12, 2004)
• NBC Universal Television Studio (May 12, 2004-June 14, 2007)
• Universal Media Studios (June 14, 2007-September 12, 2011)

Additionally: originally formed as MCA's distribution arm, MCA Television quickly grew to become a production studio in its own right, and in 1987 it spawned sister company MTE, which produced cable shows. In 1996, following Canadian corporation Seagram's acquisition of MCA, both MCA Television and MTE were incorporated into Universal Television.

Minor studios

• Universal Content Productions was established in 2008 (as Universal Cable Productions), and produces scripted programming for cable and streaming services, such as Warehouse 13 for Syfy and Covert Affairs for USA.
• Peacock Productions, the production arm of the NBC News division, producing documentaries, news programming, and reality programming.
• Wilshire Studios (formerly called Comcast Entertainment Studios, and E! Studios), which produces reality programming, mainly for E!

Distribution

The television distribution unit of the company is NBCUniversal Syndication Studios (formerly NBCUniversal Television Distribution), which was formed by the 2004 merging of NBC Enterprises and Universal Domestic Television.

NBCUniversal's home video distribution unit is Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (operating under its current name since 2016). Former names used include MCA Videocassette (1980–1983), MCA Home Video (1983–1990), MCA/Universal Home Video (1990–1997), Universal Studios Home Video (1997–2005) and Universal Studios Home Entertainment (2005–2016), as well as USA Home Entertainment (1998–2002), acquired as part of Studios USA in 2002. It also operates a joint venture with Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, Studio Distribution Services.

EMKA Ltd. was formed in 1957 to handle MCA's distribution of the 1928-December 1, 1949 Paramount Pictures library.