• Mediaweek, Thursday, March 16, 2006 11 AM

Industry observers may have felt a whiff of relief when Comcast announced last week that it would seek to buy the 40 percent of E! Entertainment Television it doesn't already own, thus putting the assets of the cable channel beneath one corporate roof.  But not everyone was happy with Comcast's decision.  In a research note issued Tuesday, Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffet warned that a deal would not be welcomed by Comcast investors “as they would prefer Comcast to focus on its core cable business rather than buy content assets.”  On the other hand, UBS analyst Aryeh Bourkoff suggested that the deal shouldn’t have any negative implications for Comcast, as “the company’s ongoing share buyback should provide support for the stock." The E! deal, orchestrated by Philadelphia-based Comcast, the country's largest cable-TV provider, "is drawing mixed reviews on Wall Street," reports Mediaweek.

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