The nation's largest cable company has dropped out of the bidding for the assets of Vivendi Universal Entertainment. Vivendi's assets include USA Network, Trio and the Sci Fi Channel. Vivendi had
been asking $14 billion for VUE but Comcast, like MGM and at least one other, felt the price was too high. MGM dropped out of the bidding after an $11.5 billion bid had been rejected. A likely
winner in the bidding would be General Electric and NBC. Comcast not only has 21 million cable subscribers nationwide but also owns QVC, Comcast-Spectacr, E! Entertainment Television, Style, Outdoor
Life Network and G4.