NBC Uni b'cast, film units a drag for GE

April 16, 2007 Other than those phrases being uttered several times Friday as General Electric reported quarterly earnings, NBC Universal was hardly discussed as GE touted its booming infrastructure business of jet engines, heavy equipment and the like. Revenue at NBC Universal fell 22% during the quarter ending March 31 to $3.5 billion, while profit advanced 6% to $691 million, largely on strength from cable channels CNBC and USA Network. GE largely blamed the revenue drop on tough comparisons because of the broadcasts of the Olympics in first-quarter 2006, though even adjusting for the $700 million in Olympics revenue, revenue at NBC Universal would be down 8% year-over-year, GE CFO Keith Sherin said.

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