Could CNBC become an acquisition target?

Dylan Byers of Puck writes about the recent upswing in CNBC viewers and its prospects after its spun off from its parent company.

Byers writes, “Alas, the salient detail here is that CNBC achieved all this with an average of just 275,000 viewers, a stark reminder of cable’s ever-declining audience and the perils of being tethered to linear distribution—which explains why NBCUniversal is spinning it off along with the rest of its cable networks, excluding Bravo. And yet, CNBC’s enduring influence in the financial sector during periods of heavy market volatility, particularly during Sorkin & Co’s Squawk Box, is a reminder of the unique value of the brand, which could make it an enticing acquisition target down the line. ‘I love their business and would buy it today,’ one major media executive told me.

“After MSNBC, CNBC is seen as the most valuable asset in the SpinCo portfolio. I’m reliably told that while CNBC averages a small fraction of its sister network’s average audience, it still generates more than half a billion dollars in EBITDA for NBCUniversal. At SpinCo, where I’m told the combined EBITDA of the assets will be between $2 billion to $2.5 billion, it is likely to account for roughly a quarter of the business.

“In an increasingly nonlinear world, CNBC may prove to be the more durable brand, especially if it can build a digital enterprise business that services high-net-worth financial professionals and business leaders—you know, the non-terminal crowd, even if that includes geriatric day traders in Boca. To date, both MSNBC and CNBC have benefitted from being part of the NBCU bundle, which made them essential to any cable package and yielded nice carriage fees. But while MSNBC’s audience is largely composed of anxious AARP liberals who may never make the jump to streaming, CNBC has a higher value proposition. Its audience includes high-net-worth and aspiring HNW professionals who rely on it as a SportsCenter for market updates, from Squawk Box ’til market close, and thus like to keep it on at the office, on the treadmill, and in the clubhouse.”