• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, August 31, 2007

Is oxygen headed to the altar with NBC Universal? That's a rumor that surfaced last month in various news accounts. The female-oriented cable network with 73 million subscribers has long had a "For Sale" sign up, openly pursuing deals in the past with potential buyers like CBS and Viacom.

NBC Universal recently signaled its interest in a possible acquisition when Jeff Gaspin, now president/COO of NBC Universal Television Group, said at an industry conference in June that the network would be open to buying more cable networks.

While NBC's broadcast network has stumbled in recent years, its cable portfolio — particularly in the entertainment arena — have been growth drivers.

The purchase of Oxygen might also fit well with NBC Universal's 2006 acquisition of women's online network iVillage. The NBC daytime show adapted from the iVillage site and launched last December — "iVillage Live" — had low ratings and ended production in June. A revamped version of the show, however, is expected to return this month on NBC.

Oxygen managed to attract at least one big buyer recently. Last month it became the first cable network to cut a deal using the eBay online exchange for buying TV time. Inked with Universal McCann on behalf of Intel, the six-figure agreement makes the tech giant a first-time advertiser on Oxygen.