Rumors are swirling that Time Warner could merge with NBC Universal, in a deal that would have major ramifications on the media landscape.
Time Warner has announced plans to spin off its cable division, and could potentially “[sell] AOL’s nuts and bolts business“, becoming a “more narrow“, “slimmed-down, content-centric” company. Meanwhile, General Electric has been long rumored to be considering “spinning off its entertainment properties“, or NBC Universal. GE has been encouraged to spin off NBCU, which does not mesh well with the corporation’s other operations.
CNBC’s Julia Boorstin writes that Time Warner is “considered the front runner to merge with NBC Universal, since other than their movie studios and their cable news channels (CNN and MSNBC) their content properties are almost entirely complimentary.”
For sports fans, one result of the potential merger would be that NBC Sports and Turner Sports, which have worked closely together on NBA and NASCAR telecasts in the past, would be under the same umbrella.
What would that mean? Turner could get part of future Olympics — potentially even replacing USA Network, which appears reluctant to preempt its regularly scheduled line-up — while baseball, NASCAR and NBA broadcasts would see some NBC Sports influence. Sporting events on USA, NBC’s current cable sibling, have used NBC Sports graphics in the past; one imagines a similar arrangement would be worked out under any hypothetical merger.
NBC Sports personalities could end up appearing on Turner Sports properties and vice versa. Bob Costas was once rumored to be part of TBS’ baseball coverage, denying interest because NBC and HBO are “where my loyalties are and that?s what viewers associate me with.” If NBC and Turner Sports were corporate siblings, perhaps Costas would consider it less of an act of disloyalty to make a return to the booth.
A merger could also make it easier for Turner/NBC Sports to bid on major broadcast packages. With a broadcast network partner (NBC), Turner could get its hands on the World Series or NBA Finals.
Of course, this is all very premature. GE CEO Jeffery Immelt “reaffirmed yet again this week that he is still pleased with NBCU.” That being said, the possibilities generated from such a merger are intriguing.
