NBC Goes Girly, Buys Oxygen for $925 Million

NBC will pay $925 million for Oxygen, to add to their female-friendly Bravo and iVillage properties. Not that iVillage has paid off exactly. But Oxygen has been doing better, and this year’s third quarter finishing up as the highest-rated in the network’s seven year history.

CEO Geraldine Laybourne said she’ll stay until the end of the year. Oprah cashed out awhile ago.

According to Andrew Hampp in Ad Age,

Oxygen joins an increasingly large stable of cable networks, which accounts for 50% of NBCU’s profits. Leading the pack is USA Network, the top-rated network on basic cable, along with Bravo, Sci-Fi, MSNBC, CNBC and Telemundo. The Oxygen bill will largely be footed by the sale of non-core assets like two independent Telemundo TV stations in Los Angeles (KWHY) and Puerto Rico (WKAQ).

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