NBC Universal Television

 

30 Rockefeller Plaza

New York, NY, 10112

http://www.nbcuni.com/

(image courtesy of wallstcheatsheet.com)

History

The National Broadcasting Company began broadcasting cable television in 1939. The television company operating under the same name until a groundbreaking merger with Vivendy Universal in 2003. Vivendi, suffered a major financial blow due to aggressive over-expansion and in turn sold 80% of the company to NBC to become NBCU. The merger gave Universal’s biggest television and entertainment assets, such as Universal Studios, production and distribution units, five theme parks, and cable television channels over to NBC. On May 12th, 2004, the companies were officially combined and renamed NBC Universal Television. While Universal is still based out of Studio City in Los Angeles, NBCU is run from 30 Rock in New York City. [1]

 

Financials

Comcast, NBCUniversal’s encompassing corporation boasted a mildly successful  first quarter on the market, boasting a $0.38 rise over the last six months however the last three months have been rough for Comcast, as the price per share dropped from $53.74 to $49.53. While these figures are representative of the Comcast Corporation as a whole, NBCUniversal’s splashing first quarter accounts for a large part of the company’s share price. [2]

 

 

Executives

 

President and CEO- NBCU: Stephen B. Burke

 

Burke oversees all assets of the NBCUniversal company, including the television stations, motion picture company, and theme parks. Burke was immediately appointed CEO after Comcast and NBC Universal’s merger in 2011. [3]

 

 

Executive Vice President, Content Distribution, NBCU: Matt Bond

 

Bond is in charge of steering the strategic direction of all NBC programming, as well as overseeing the NBCUniversal cable channels as well as the owned and operated programming. Bond is another member of the NBCU executive team who received a bump from the Comcast executive board during the 2011 merger.[4]

Executive Vice President, NBCU: Cesar Conde

 

Conde controls all of NBCUniversal’s international programming, content, and distribution. Conde joined the NBCU team in October 2013 after serving as the president of Univision for four years. Conde’s astounding international success at Univision make him a unique and well-rounded addition to the NBCU team. [5]

 

 

EVP and Chief Financial Officer, NBCU: Stuart J. Epstien

 

Epstien oversees all financial planning and is an integral part of NBCU’s business strategy planning. Epstein joined NBCU after working 27 years at Morgan Stanley. [6]

 

A Big 2014 so far for NBCUniversal

NBCUniversals’ perennial powerhouse primetime programming continued to be staples in the company’s programming that continue to establish the face of the company, however the last few months brought a lot of change and excitement to the company. NBCUniversal was in charge of broadcasting the Winter Olympics from Sochi and shifted the face of late night television. [7]

 

The Winter Games

NBCUniversal has a contract that allows them exclusive rights to the olympic games for the heavy price of $1 Billion per games. The steep price to the rights puts pressure on the network to generate millions of viewers and millions of dollars of ad revenue. While the numbers for the Sochi games were not at impressive as the Vancouver winter games in 2010 or the 2012 London games (this was expected as summer olympics are more popular that the winter games), the Sochi olympics were a success for NBCUniversal and all of its subsidiaries. The Sochi olympics averaged 21.4 million viewers over the 17 nights of the games, slightly down from the 24.4 generated from the (mostly live broadcasted) Vancouver olympics, but also a 6 percent increase from the Turin Winter Games in 2006. The NBC primetime broadcast won every night of the Olympics compared to 14 of 17 during the Vancouver Olympics and eight of 17 in Turin.[8]

The games also provided a perfect opportunity for NBC to internally advertise for the debut of their all new Late Night programming, as Jimmy Fallon took over The Tonight Show on February 17th and Seth Meyers took over Late Night on February 24th. [7]

 

All New Late-Night

Late Night television is experiencing an overhaul in 2014 and NBC’s two premiere programs are no exception. In a response to ABC moving Jimmy Kimmel Live up from 12:00am to 11:30pm, NBC appointed Jimmy Fallon to take over for Jay Leno adding a younger face to compete with Kimmel and the older (soon to be replaced by Stephen Colbert) David Letterman in the 11:30 slot. The premiere of the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon saw a massive 3.8 rating in the 18-49 demographic and 11.31 million viewers. [9] After a stellar opening week that featured Will Smith and U2 as guests, Fallon remained the king of the 11:30 time slot until the night of April 3rd, when Letterman scored the highest rating the night of his retirement announcement. Fallon has by far the most diverse skill set of all the late night hosts and the variety of entertainment the program brings keeps him atop the ratings charts.

 

On May 12th, 2103, NBC announced that Seth Meyers would take over Late Night for Jimmy Fallon once he moved up to the Tonight Show. [12]. Late Night with Seth Meyers premiered on February 24th following the conclusion of the olympics. Just like Jimmy Fallon’s first show in 2008, the premiere got great ratings but only mild reviews.  Amy Poehler and Joe Biden were the guests on the talk show’s premiere. Fred Armisen, Meyers’ long time friend and cowriter and cast-mate on Saturday Night Live leads “The 8G Band”, Meyer’s house band. Seth Meyer’s first night as host of “Late Night” drew 3.4 million viewers, the most for a Monday show in nine years. [12] The show has since smoothed out and dominated late night ratings along with The Tonight Show.

 

 

The Voice

The Voice has emerged as NBCUniversals’s premiere reality program over the last three years, since its debut in 2011. NBC has dominated primetime ratings on Tuesday nights among the big four networks since it’s air. The Voice, a singing competition that features a star studded judging panel has been a perennial success for NBC network. [11]

 

 

What’s Ahead for NBCUniversal

The company had an extremely busy first half of 2014 and no major events or changes look to be in store for the rest of the year. With the exception of the Stanley Cup Playoffs and PGA Tour Golf, NBC will shift its focus towards the Superbowl in 2015 and to 2016 when they are once again in charge of broadcasting the summer olympics from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

 

 

 

[1] Comcast and GE Complete Transaction to form NBCUniversal (RT 4/20/14)

[2] Google Finance- COMCAST (RT 4/20/14)

[3] Comcast- Stephen Burke Bio (RT 4/20/14)

[4]NBCUni Bio, Matt Bond (RT 4/20/14)

[5] NBCUni Bio, Cesar Conde (RT 4/20/14)

[6] NBCUni Bio, Stuart J. Epstien (RT 4/20/14)

[7]NBCU Reveals Its 2013-2014 Schedule (RT 4/19/14)

[8]NBC Releases Winter Olympics Ratings Data (RT 4/19/14)

[9] Jimmy Fallon’s Debut as ‘Tonight Show’ Host Draws 11.3 Million Viewers (RT 4/21/14)

[11]NBC’s ‘The Voice’ Was Tuesday’s Number One Show in Adults 18-49 by a 38 Percent Margin (RT 4/19/14)

[12] Seth Meyers Named Host of NBC’s ‘Late Night’, Lorne Michaels to Exec Produce (RT 4/19/14)