After declining to comment on the rumors that it was going to buy DreamWorks Animation during yesterday's earnings call, Comcast pulled the trigger on Thursday in a deal valued at about $3.8 billion.
DreamWorks will be folded into Comcast's NBCUniversal division once the deal clears the usual regulatory hurdles. Comcast said that DreamWorks LLC "will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which includes Universal Pictures, Fandango, and NBCUniversal Brand Development."
NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke said the addition of DreamWorks would help NBCUniversal grow its film, television, theme parks and consumer product businesses.
The deal will give NBCUniversal LLC , and Comcast's TV Everywhere services, a bigger reach into the kids and family entertainment space in both TV and film. In addition to popular movies such as Shrek and Kung Fu Panda, NBCUniversal will also be able to tap into DreamWorks' linear and SVOD platforms that are in more than 130 countries.
It's worth noting that DreamWorks owns a 51% stake in AwesomenessTV. Earlier this month, Comcast Corp. (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) rival Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) shelled out about $106 million for a 24.5% stake in AwesomenessTV while Hearst Corp. retained the remaining stake.
Verizon's deal with AwesomenessTV also included a new mobile video service that will launch as part of its Go90 mobile app. (See Verizon Buys a Stake in AwesomenessTV.)
DreamWorks CEO Jeffery Katzenberg is giving up the helm, but he will still be involved with AwesomenessTV, NOVA "and other new media opportunities."
Comcast expects the deal to be completed by the end of the year.
— Mike Robuck, Editor, Telco Transformation