Comcast to split into two public companies, spinning off NBCUniversal and Sky

Comcast said it will split into two publicly traded companies, pulling NBCUniversal and Sky out of the broadband and wireless business in a tax-free spin-off that it expects to complete in about a year. The move is Comcast’s clearest bet yet that its media and entertainment assets can be worth more on their own than tied to the shrinking economics of cable and connectivity.

The separation would leave Comcast shareholders holding stock in both companies. Comcast said the deal is meant to create two focused industry leaders with different strategic priorities, one centered on entertainment and international media assets and the other on broadband, wireless and other connectivity businesses. CNBC said Comcast shares rose about 14% after the announcement, a sign that investors welcomed the cleaner structure even as the company gives up the scale of the old bundle.

The breakup also follows a series of moves that have already reshaped the company. Comcast completed the spin-off of Versant Media Group on January 2, 2026, with regular-way trading beginning three days later, after moving most of its cable networks into a separate public company. That earlier split showed how sharply Comcast has been responding to cord-cutting and subscriber losses across its cable businesses, pressures that have pushed media groups to rethink how much value remains in packaging channels, studios and sports rights under one roof.

Leadership of the new companies is already taking shape. Comcast named Michael J. Cavanagh co-chief executive officer effective January 2026, alongside Brian L. Roberts, and reporting on the latest separation says Cavanagh is expected to become chief executive of the NBCUniversal company. Michael Angelakis, Comcast’s former chief financial officer, is expected to lead the remaining Comcast company after the split. Roberts will remain actively involved in both businesses’ leadership, preserving continuity at a moment when the company is unwinding one of the industry’s largest media and distribution combinations.

Comcast bought Sky in 2018, an acquisition that expanded its footprint in the United Kingdom and broader European markets. Now the company is reversing course, arguing that each side of the business can pursue its own strategy and create long-term shareholder value independently. The timing underscores how aggressively the old media bundle is breaking apart, with broadband, streaming and entertainment increasingly priced, managed and judged as separate businesses rather than a single corporate equation.