Comcast Corp. is considering a sale of its pay-TV business in Germany, which weighed on its European operations in the most recent quarter, people familiar with the matter said.
(Bloomberg) — Comcast Corp.
is considering a sale of its pay-TV business in Germany, which weighed on its European operations in the most recent quarter, people familiar with the matter said.
The US broadcaster is working with an adviser as it explores options for Sky Deutschland, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing confidential information.
Deliberations are ongoing and Comcast may also decide not to sell, they said.
The unit could be valued at about €1 billion ($998 million) in any sale, according to the people. A representative for Comcast declined to comment.
Comcast, which is the biggest pay-TV provider in the US, acquired Sky Deutschland as part of its $39 billion purchase of British broadcaster Sky in 2018.
In third-quarter results, Comcast said that in Europe lower sales in Italy and Germany had offset gains in its UK market. The company took a $8.6 billion non-cash charge on Sky, due to “macroeconomic conditions” in Europe.
Sky Deutschland has in recent years faced increasing competition from streamer DAZN Group Ltd., which has been winning rights to show football matches from Germany’s Bundesliga and some UEFA Champions League games in the country.
“From the 2021-22 season, Sky DE lost the Champions League coverage and its share of Bundesliga coverage declined,” said Francois Godard, a media analyst at Enders Analysis.
“There was a negative impact on subscriptions, a loss of possibly two or three hundred thousands, and on the average spend by subscriber.”
But Godard said Sky Deutschland’s lower revenue was being offset by declining costs, putting the German platform on a financially sustainable path.
“Sky Deutschland is subscale compared to its UK sister,” he said.
“They have no telecoms operations. Maybe a German buyer could merge it with something else and get to scale.”
Comcast shares rose 1.5% on Thursday after profit forecasts, valuing the company at $138 billion.
–With assistance from Ruth David.
(Adds analyst quote in sixth paragraph, share move in final paragraph.)
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