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EXCLUSIVE: I’m told that Comcast CEO Brian Roberts a few months ago quietly brought on Peter Liguori as a consultant to the company. It’s not specifically for the NBC Universal deal but rather for “a broad array of things” like retrans, one of my insiders reports back to me. What a smart move. Not only does Liguori know network, but his understanding of cable and content and branding is unquestioned after he made FX cutting edge with content like The Shield and Nip/Tuck. Almost as smart as my news from last night that Comcast COO Steve Burke would replace Jeff Zucker atop NBC Universal in a short period of time if and when the largest U.S. cable service provider takes control of the branded entertainment giant from GE. Liguori, the inexplicably ousted chairman of entertainment at Fox Broadcasting, is one of the best pieces of manpower on the loose. As I posted back in March, Hollywood’s favorite parlor game among TV types was trying to predict where Liguori would land, because even in this economy he’d probably have his pick of jobs. Meanwhile, slowly but surely, we’re getting to know more about Comcast plans for NBCU. And it sure looks promising.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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he killed arrested development, he’ll probably kill 30 rock too.
Jeff Zucker just peed himself reading this.
You fail to mention Jeff Shell in this reporting as it relates to Peter Liguori. They were exceedingly close friends while at FOX and Liguori’s been consulting for a while. There is no doubt he was a part of the strategic planning as it relates to the GE overture; if not right away, then soon thereafter when it became a part of the “broad array of things” your source indicates they’re working on.
There’s a big concept floating out there that NBC will ultimately sell it’s O&O’s because the busienss of teleivison series content on broadcast can’t be sustained by advertising dollars any longer. A version of NBC migrates at some point to Cable, which Comcast can deliver on, and NBC benefits from the dual streams of revenue that Cable provides. NBC News compliments MSNBC and CNBC beautifully, and Sports, bearing in mind the NFL deals that both NBC and ESPN are engaged in, will also naturally play on Cable so the overall segue is easier than one might think.
NBC then becomes a compliment to USA, SciFi, Bravo and Oxygen. Comcast sells Telemundo because it’s a drain and whatever niche channels NBCUNI control and the focus is on creating in a Cable setting another piece of what would be Comcast’s juggernaut of channels. Jeff Shell and Peter Liguori are crucial to that play and they’re the kind of manpower that can implement a strategy that will save not only NBC, but television itself because bold, out of the box thinkers who have already succeeded in Cable businesses like Shell and Liguori will reinvent the economics of content for the 21st Century. And most importantly, Comcast has the cash on hand to pull it off.
Nikki, any word on how this might affect MSNBC and the battle between Fox News? O’Reilly has been pounding GE lately, so I wonder if he will now focus on Comcast?
Only in media are they blind to history. These people can come up with all the machinations, mergers, content or distribution scenarios they want. They think they have control they dont. Over paying for everything, hocked to the gills on most assets, research for the day for buying tomorrow only for it to change next month. With all of the brains that surround the Titans have they done well by them. Sure they are loaded but has it been done by a plan no, I say more by luck then anything else. How many times can Universal be boxed and sold like a 2nd hand DVD and still have value. Each management that comes poking around screws it up and leaves. MGM another used and scratched DVD. I still go back to the exact day media blew its brains out. When Gerald Levin said it was in the interest of Time Warner to fire Mo Ostin. Chart it…it was a flawless indicator. It was downhill from there.
I agree that the Shell-Ligouri duo is beastly and is the key component to making the NBCU acquisition fly long term. Not sure it comes close to working without them.
Will Shell and Liguori also solve world hunger and bring peace to the middle east. Holy Christ, AC must be either on the payroll or related to one of this fine executives. Also, seeing as everyone is writing off the major networks and conceding their transfer to the cable formula might the government have a bit to say in this matter?
You really should pull Liguori’s full resume and background sometime. You over-credit him and his abilities. Granted, anyone’s better than Jeff Zucker but still.
My bet is they sell off NBC the network, O&O’s, and the theme parks, concentrate on the cable channels, and the studio.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper if the theme parks and movie studio were always linked? Breaking that to a third party with right multi-year Universal right conttracts, etc. seems costly. Or perhaps I’m thinking of this in the reverse.
Who would by NBC as a stand-alone right now? Just don’t see it in the current economic climate and the network’s total lack of sparkle not only on the air but on their financial reports as well.