Comcast Officially Acquires DreamWorks For $3.8B

Image courtesy of Sterling Davis

The rumors are true: Comcast’s media empire is getting a new addition in the animation department.

Comcast is, of course, not just a cable and telecom behemoth; they are also NBCUniversal, film and TV giant. And now Universal is picking up DreamWorks Animation for even more than $3 billion the rumor mill guessed earlier this week.

The move brings family-friendly franchises like Shrek, Madagascar, and How To Train Your Dragon under the NBCU umbrella, as well as classics like Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer… and positions Universal Studios, with all its subsidiaries, in prime position to compete with Disney/Pixar for those lucrative movie and merch dollars.

“DreamWorks Animation is a great addition to NBCUniversal,” Steve Burke, CEO of NBCUniversal, said in a statement. “[DreamWorks has] created a dynamic film brand and a deep library of intellectual property.”

And really, it is all about that back-bench and licensing: “DreamWorks will help us grow our film, television, theme parks and consumer products businesses for years to come,” Burke said.

After the merger is completed, pending regulatory review, DreamWorks co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg will transition to chairman of DreamWorks New Media — which we mention because it is made up of two companies called NOVA and AwesomenessTV, which is apparently a real thing and not an idea cooked up by a middle-schooler.

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