Fox News (NWS) reported that the reason for the installation of Jeff Zucker as president and CEO of NBCU was that the company is going to be put up for sale.
According to the report, former NBCU Chairman and CEO Bob Wright had the plan already in place and had talked about it with General Electric (GE) Chaiman and CEO Jeffrey Immelt soon before his leaving of NBCU, although he's still with GE.
"GE wants out. That's why they put Zucker in. He can spin everything off," the report stated.
If this report is accurate, the reason for the selling off of the company is that the strategy of GE is to be the No. 1 or No. 2 player in any market they're in. NBCU is more of a turnaround project that may take years to become competitive again.
That, and the upheaval in the media space which is precipitated by the Internet, makes the company a difficult candidate for a No. 1 or 2 in the media landscape. That alone makes the probability of the reports being true.
Immelt commented later today that the rumors aren't true.
NBC Universal is jointly owned by General Electric and Vivendi, with GE controlling 80 percent of the company.
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