NBC Universal's profits drop dramatically

NBC Universal's profits plunged 41 percent including 8 percent in the second quarter, yet faired well alongside other divisions of its parent company, General Electric.

According to an article on HollywoodReporter.com, "NBC Uni attributed much of its revenue drop to a $95 million write-down of its majority stake in Ion Media Networks and last year's one-time gain of $113 million for the $496 million sale of the Sundance Channel to Cablevision's Rainbow Media. Because of Ion and Sundance, GE CFO Keith Sherin called NBC Uni's performance 'not as negative as it looks.'"

Despite, NBC Uni posting earnings of $539 million for the three months ended in June, its revenue sunk 8 percent to $3.6 billion.

Yet, GE chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt told investors during a conference call that cable networks such as USA, Oxygen, Bravo and news network CNBC continue to provide solid growth, but noted the constant pressure in the advertising and the local television markets.

But, according to an article on Variety.com, "Last week, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said things seem to be looking up in the third quarter. 'Our local TV business for the third quarter, our local television stations, seem to be improving,' Zucker said in an interview with CNBC from the Allen & Co. conference in Sun Valley, Idaho. 'It's not what we want it to be, but it's a little better,' he said."

Immelt then added that he was delighted with the transition of Jimmy Fallon and Conan [O'Brien.] Conan O'Brien took over "The Tonight Show" from Jay Leno. But, Leno is set to return in September with a new weekday show at 10 p.m. which many view as a precarious shift in prime-time programming.

The HollywoodReporter.com article also said, "Of GE's five segments, NBC Uni showed the second-biggest decline in profit behind the Capital Finance unit, which registered an 80% drop. But it fared second best on the revenue front, behind Energy Infrastructure, which showed a 1% decline."