Comcast has officially announced plans to move forward on a venture to spin off its NBCUniversal cable TV networks into a new standalone company, writes Amol Sharma for The Wall Street Journal.

After first revealing last month that the media conglomerate was contemplating the idea, Comcast decided that it will be better off doing it.

As a result, Comcast will be separating off its entertainment and news channels, which include MSNBC, CNBC, USA, Oxygen, E!, Syfy, and Golf Channel, among others.

Those assets helped the company generate about $7 billion in revenue over the last 12 months.

Other networks like Bravo, the Peacock streaming service, and the NBC broadcast network will remain under Comcast’s mothership.

In making this decision, Comcast is betting that NBCUniversal’s remaining assets — which include broadcast TV, sports, movies and theme parks — will be better positioned for growth. Comcast also believes its strong balance sheet can absorb the loss of its still-healthy cable network profits.

While media executives say the new cable venture will likely need greater scale to thrive, Comcast’s leadership sees consolidation potential across other networks.

Read more about Comcast’s major decision to spin off its many cable networks into a separate firm in The Wall Street Journal.

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