# NBCUniversal The media division of [[Comcast]]. It was formed in May 2004 when General Electric's NBC merged with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, and it came under Comcast's control in two steps: 51% bought from GE in 2011 and the remaining 49% in 2013 (see [[Comcast - NBCUniversal Acquisition]]). For two decades it held the NBC broadcast network, [[NBC News]], [[MSNBC]], CNBC, Telemundo, Universal Pictures, the USA/E!/Syfy/Bravo cable group, Peacock and the Universal theme parks. ## The split In 2026 the company was cut in two. The cable-network spin-off, **[[Versant]]**, completed on January 2, 2026, took USA, CNBC, MS NOW (the renamed [[MSNBC]]), Syfy, Oxygen, E! and Golf Channel. NBCUniversal kept NBC, [[NBC News]], NBC Sports, Bravo, Telemundo, Peacock, the studios and the parks. The dividing line was whether an asset feeds streaming, not cable versus broadcast. That is why Bravo stayed. ## Why the split matters for the KB The split left NBCUniversal holding the assets the federal government can reach most directly. Broadcast stations need [[FCC]] licenses. Cable networks do not. - **The DEI probe.** On February 11, 2025, FCC chair [[Brendan Carr]] told Comcast that the Enforcement Bureau was investigating whether its diversity programs promoted "invidious forms of DEI." The probe was framed under Trump's January 2025 anti-DEI executive order. Coverage at the time noted the implicit leverage: the same agency licenses NBC's stations. - **Pressure on the programming.** In November 2025 Trump posted that NBC "should fire" Seth Meyers "IMMEDIATELY!", and Carr reposted it without comment. The regulator amplifying the president's demand about a network's talent is the [[Media Capture]] pattern this vault tracks at [[CBS News]]. - **The news split.** Moving MS NOW, the opinion channel Trump derides as "MSDNC," out to Versant separated it from the licensed broadcast newsroom. Whatever the business logic, the effect is that the part of the company exposed to the FCC no longer owns the channel the White House most wants punished. ## Related - [[Comcast]] · [[Brian Roberts]] · [[Versant]] - [[NBC News]] · [[MSNBC]] - [[Comcast and NBCUniversal Timeline]] · [[Media Consolidation]] - [[Brendan Carr]] · [[FCC]] · [[Media Capture]]