U.S. Comcast to spin off MSNBC, CNBC and other cable channels

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) -- U.S. multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate Comcast Corporation is cleaving off a huge chunk of its television portfolio to create a new company composed of its cable channels, including MSNBC, CNBC and USA Network.

The Philadelphia-based cable giant unveiled its plan to create a new publicly traded company as well as a new corporate structure for NBCUniversal on Wednesday. The new company, currently dubbed SpinCo, although that will change, will offer news, entertainment and sports channels reaching about 70 million U.S. homes and have the financial heft to acquire other channels, said a Comcast announcement.