GE’s Immelt Rejects NBCU Sale Speculation

NEW YORK, March
11: Jeffrey Immelt, the chairman of General Electric, has confirmed to the
company’s shareholders that NBC Universal is not for sale.

According to The New York Times, in a message to shareholders in GE’s
annual report, which is due to be released tomorrow, Immelt writes, “Should we
sell NBCU? The answer is no! I just don’t see it happening. Not before the
Olympics, not after the Olympics. It doesn’t make sense.”

There has been
speculation that GE would evaluate its options for NBC Universal after the
Beijing Olympics; NBC and its sister cable channels are gearing up for more
than 3,600 hours of coverage from China this August.

In the message
to shareholders, Immelt cites the consistent gains made at NBC Universal and
forecast a 10-percent rise in earnings for this year.

NBC Universal’s
president and CEO, Jeff Zucker, told the Times: “GE believes in NBC Universal. They want us to
win. If we continue to perform, the questions of whether GE is going to sell
NBC will go away.”

—By
Mansha Daswani