NEW YORK -- USA Network is the most valuable part of NBC
Universal at $11.7 billion, but the NBC network is worth
a negative $600 million, according to Wunderlich
Securities analyst Matthew Harrigan. He also puts the
value of the Universal studio arm at about $4 billion.
Harrigan listed the valuation estimates in a research
note on Monday following
Friday's news that Jeff Zucker
will leave his role as CEO of NBC Universal to Comcast
COO Steve Burke after the cable giant acquires the
entertainment firm.
"Burke appears likely to focus on revitalizing the NBC
network and addressing digital media and subscription
model initiatives," Harrigan wrote. "In the interim,
Universal head Ron Meyer is apt to remain in position
even with uneven market share and financial performance
at the Studio," which he doesn't expect to be a
near-term priority for Burke. "The NBC Network is simply
more important perceptually and from a pop culture
vantage point."
According to the analyst, the NBC Universal cable
networks make up 78% of NBC Universal's valuation.
Thanks to the stronger-than-anticipated recovery in the
advertising market, the total company is likely worth
slightly more than $32.5 billion, he said. In the
Comcast deal, NBC Universal was value at $30 billion.
The negative $600 million value for NBC comes "as it
remains a capital call for programming development as
long as it remains mired in the #4 network position,"
Harrigan said.
Thanks to the NBC and Telemundo stations that NBC
Universal owns and NBC Universal TV, the value of the
firm's overall broadcast division stands at $3.5 billion
though, according to the analyst.
The studio's $4 billion and theme park unit's $1.4
billion combine into a total $5.4 billion studio and
parks business, according to his estimates.
But both are dwarfed by Harrigan's $32.7 billion
valuation for the NBC Universal cable networks,
including nearly $6.3 billion for Syfy, $3.9 billion for
CNBC, $2.8 billion for MSNBC and $2.6 billion for Bravo.
Harrigan's total adds up to $41.6 billion, from which he
subtracts nearly $9.1 billion in corporate and capital
expenditures to arrive at a valuation of a bit more than
$32.5 billion.
Adding in the $6 billion value of Comcast's cable
networks, the combined NBC Universal-Comcast joint
venture will be worth $38.6 billion before $9.1 billion
of debt, or $29.5 billion when accounting for that debt,
Harrigan said. That would put the value of Comcast's 51%
stake at around $15 billion.