GE Earnings Report Out on Friday: Will It Be the End for NBC?

Analysts are expecting a profit of 51 cents per share when General Electric (GE) announces its earnings report on tomorrow, compared to 44 cents per share for the same quarter a year ago. However, if profits aren’t as expected, there could be a push for GE to unload its media holdings – and that includes NBC.

NBC has been part of the GE empire for almost twenty years. The last few years have not been as profitable for the company as ratings for NBC have continued to decline. NBC has finished behind ABC and CBS for the last three years – though with the Olympics looming on the horizon, that could change.

Analysts don’t expect to see a complete breakup even if the news on Friday is bad. A spin-off is a more likely scenario, but even that would likely not happen for some time… just last month, GE chief executive Jeff Immelt told investors that NBC is not for sale.