Is Comcast’s Cable Spinoff a Buyer or a Seller?

variety.com:

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.