NBC Universal's Jeff Zucker tells Crain's NY Business that NBCU is not for sale. Got that? Jeff is positive. So never mind the steady Wall Street buzz, about the de-conglomeratization of General Electric, just read Jeff's lips: No sale by GE of NBC--nosiree.
Of course, Zucker would be the last to know. That's always the case these days with CEO's on their way out. In all the big corporate defenestrations of recent years--Carly Fiorina of H-P, Hank Greenberg of AIG, Harry Stonecipher of Boeing, and, just today, Stan O'Neal of Merrill Lynch--the CEO was the last to know. That is, the board met, away from the CEO, made a decision, and then delivered the news.
Why? Because the CEO is always happy with the status quo--him or her being in charge, what's not to like? And since, typically, the CEO has a seat on the board, the firing majority needs to keep it a secret.
But note the weasel words that Zucker used, according to Crain's :
Speaking at a breakfast organized by Syracuse University's Newhouse School, Mr. Zucker said it made little sense for GE to sell NBC in coming months because of a variety of advertising opportunities that would become available.
Note the key phrase above: "it made little sense for GE to sell NBC in coming months." Well, heck, Jeff, talk about beating down a straw man!
Nobody is saying that GE is going to sell NBC tomorrow; they are saying, in fact, that GE would unload NBC after the Beijing Olympics, scheduled for August 8-24, 2008. And let's say that nothing would happen before the November '08 presidential election, either.
So The Cable Gamer predicts that Jeff has about a year to find something new to do--because that's when the other Jeff, Jeff Immelt, starts looking for a buyer.
Hint: Think a private equity player. They're all rich, but don't have the visibility to match their wealth. Buying a network using someone else's money? Now that's a plan!
