Vivendi ups stakes in Universal Music, NBC to maximize its online potential.In an effort to clean up its balance sheet, Vivendi Universal SA, last week agreed to pay $1.15 billion to Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. for full ownership of Universal Music Group, and increased its stake in NBC Universal NBC Universal is a media and entertainment company formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric's NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment (part of the French Media Group, Vivendi SA). GE owns 80% of NBC Universal with the remaining 20% owned by Vivendi SA. by 2 percent. The move comes as Vivendi sets a new course after averting financial collapse four years ago. In 2004, it sold an 80 percent stake in its film and television assets to General Electric Co., backtracking (algorithm) backtracking - A scheme for solving a series of sub-problems each of which may have multiple possible solutions and where the solution chosen for one sub-problem may affect the possible solutions of later sub-problems. from a disastrous foray into Verb 1. foray into - enter someone else's territory and take spoils; "The pirates raided the coastal villages regularly" raid encroach upon, intrude on, obtrude upon, invade - to intrude upon, infringe, encroach on, violate; "This new colleague invades my Hollywood. "The real value here is NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. ," said Phil Leigh, senior analyst at Inside Digital Media Inc., in Tampa. "What we're seeing here is a desire to consolidate particularly because the music business and the television business are going to be radically transformed by the Internet." Vivendi bought the 7.7 percent stake that it didn't own in Universal Music Group, which it now controls outright, and an additional 2 per cent stake in NBC Universal, raising its total stake to 20 percent. The deal will boost earnings by $30 million this year. As the world's largest record company, Vivendi hopes its future growth will come through the distribution of music online. As sales of recorded music recorded music n → música grabada fall, music companies have turned to music publishing The contractual relationship between a songwriter or music composer and a music publisher, whereby the writer assigns part or all of his or her music copyrights to the publisher in exchange for the publisher's commercial exploitation of the music. , because it provides a steady stream of revenue from concerts, television commercials and the use of lyrics. Jean-Bernard Levy, Vivendi's chief executive, told analysts that the deal is "entirely consistent with our view that content will be a value creator for years to come." Apple's hugely popular iPod has created opportunities for companies like Universal Music through digital downloads, ring tones for mobile phones and subscription businesses. Universal Music continues to gain market share from Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Inc. is the result of a 50/50 joint venture between Sony Music Entertainment (part of Sony) and BMG Entertainment (part of Bertelsmann) completed on August 5, 2004. , a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann, and Warner Music. Universal Music controls 31.7 percent of the market, up from 29.6 percent in 2004, according to Nielsen SoundScan Kate Berry Staff Reporter |
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