NBCUniversal
American media and entertainment conglomerate / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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NBCUniversal Media, LLC (abbreviated as NBCU and doing business as simply NBCUniversal or Comcast NBCUniversal since 2013) is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast and is headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Midtown Manhattan in New York City.[5]
 Logo used since Feb 2, 2011 | |
 NBCUniversal's headquarters at the Comcast Building (30 Rockefeller Plaza) in New York City | |
| NBCUniversal | |
| Formerly | NBC Universal, Inc. (2004–2011) |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | |
| Predecessors | |
| Founded | May 11, 2004; 20 years ago (May 11, 2004) |
| Headquarters | Comcast Building, , U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people |
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| Products |
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| Services | |
| Revenue |  US$39.2 billion (2022) |
Number of employees | 35,000 (2020) |
| Parent | Comcast |
| Divisions | |
| Subsidiaries | Fandango Media (75%) |
| Website | nbcuniversal |
| Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4] | |
 | |
| 1912 | Universal Pictures is founded |
|---|---|
| 1926 | NBC is founded |
| 1928 | Walter Lantz Productions is established |
| 1943 | MCA Inc. establishes Revue Studios (later Universal Television) |
| 1953 | NBC begins first compatible color broadcasts, preceding other networks by nine years |
| 1956 | NBC's first peacock logo debuts |
| 1963 | American Cable Systems is founded |
| 1964 | Universal Studios Hollywood opens |
| 1967 | NBC broadcasts the first Super Bowl |
| 1968 | American Cable Systems rebrands to Comcast |
| 1972 | Comcast began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) |
| 1975 | Universal releases Jaws |
| 1980 | PolyGram renames Casablanca Record & Filmworks to PolyGram Pictures MCA Videocassette‚ Inc. (later Universal Pictures Home Entertainment is established |
| 1982 | Universal releases E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial |
| 1984 | Walter Lantz Productions' assets are sold to Universal Telemundo is founded |
| 1985 | Universal releases Back to the Future |
| 1986 | General Electric buys RCA for $6.4 billion, including NBC and a stake in A&E |
| 1989 | NBC relaunches Tempo Television as CNBC |
| 1990 | Universal Studios Florida opens Law & Order premieres on NBC Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting merge to form British Sky Broadcasting Universal Cartoon Studios (later Universal Animation Studios) is established |
| 1993 | Universal releases Jurassic Park |
| 1994 | DreamWorks Animation is founded |
| 1996 | NBC and Microsoft replace America's Talking with MSNBC |
| 1997 | Barry Diller purchases Universal's domestic television assets |
| 1998 | Seagram acquires PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Universal Television is renamed Studios USA Television |
| 1999 | PolyGram Filmed Entertainment is folded into Universal Pictures Universal Studios Florida expands to become Universal Orlando Resort Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premieres on NBC |
| 2001 | Grand opening of Universal Studios Japan Universal releases The Fast and the Furious Vivendi purchases Studios USA |
| 2002 | NBC acquires Telemundo and Bravo Studios USA assets are folded into Universal Focus Features is formed Comcast acquires AT&T Broadband for $44.5 billion |
| 2003 | Universal becomes the first studio with five summer releases breaking the $100 million mark |
| 2004 | GE and Vivendi merge NBC and Universal into NBCUniversal |
| 2005 | The Office premieres on NBC Comcast sets up a joint-venture with PBS, Sesame Workshop & HIT Entertainment to form PBS Kids Sprout Comcast & Time Warner Cable jointly acquire Adelphia Cable assets for $17.6 billion |
| 2006 | USA Network begins 13-year streak as #1 cable network in total viewers |
| 2007 | Illumination is founded |
| 2010 | Universal releases Illumination's first film Despicable Me |
| 2011 | Vivendi divested in NBCU; Comcast buys 51% of NBCU from GE, turning it into a limited liability company NBCUniversal Archives is founded |
| 2012 | Universal celebrates its 100th anniversary NBCUniversal divests its A&E Networks minority stake |
| 2013 | Comcast buys GE's remaining 49% of NBCU Comcast/NBCU assumes full ownership of Sprout |
| 2014 | Comcast attempts to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion NBCUniversal reaches a new long-term deal with WWE |
| 2016 | NBCU acquires DreamWorks Animation |
| 2017 | Sprout relaunches as Universal Kids |
| 2018 | Comcast acquires Sky after a heated bidding war with 21st Century Fox |
| 2019 | NBCU acquires Cineo Lighting |
| 2020 | NBCU launches Peacock |
| 2021 | Grand opening of Universal Beijing Resort |
| 2023 | The Super Mario Bros. Movie becomes Illumination's highest-grossing film |
NBCUniversal is primarily involved in the media and entertainment industry. The company is named for its two most significant divisions, the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) – one of the United States' Big Three television networks – and the major Hollywood film studio Universal Studios. It also has a significant presence in broadcasting through a portfolio of domestic and international properties, including USA, Syfy, Bravo, E!, Telemundo (Spanish), Universal Kids, the streaming service Peacock and ownership stakes in Snap and Vox Media. Via its Universal Destinations & Experiences division, NBCUniversal is also the third-largest operator of amusement parks in the world.[6] Since 2018, its sister company under Comcast's control, Sky Group Limited, holds its media and telecommunication assets.
NBCUniversal was formed on May 11, 2004, beginning on November 8, 2004 as NBC Universal, Inc., with the merger of General Electric (GE)'s NBC with Vivendi Universal's film and television subsidiary Vivendi Universal Entertainment, after GE had acquired 80% of the subsidiary, giving Vivendi a 20% share of the new company.[7][8] In 2011, Comcast attained 51% and thereby the control of newly reformed NBCUniversal, by purchasing shares from GE, while GE bought out Vivendi. Since 2013, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Comcast, which bought GE's ownership stake.[9]