Donna Langley is in the NBCU driver's seat as the Comcast-owned company prepares to spinoff MSNBC & other cable channels

NBCUniversal CFO Anand Kini will become CFO and COO of the new channels company, helping Lazarus develop "an independent strategy" and establishing it "as a potential partner and acquirer."

Now, MSNBC is being upended by the very technology it first embraced, with streaming video now accounting for nearly half of all TV viewing, according to Nielsen. The decline of pay TV has culminated in Comcast placing MSNBC — along with sister networks such as CNBC and E!

It was synergy that may never happen again, if NBCU's parent company Comcast successfully splits its cable channels from the rest of its media assets. The cable giant on Wednesday said that it was planning to officially move forward with its proposed split,

Comcast is spinning off most of its cable networks, also including USA, Oxygen, E!, SYFY and the Golf Channel, into a separate company. That recognizes how streaming is considered the future and the cable networks are a drag on the bottom line.

In a bold move set to reshape the media landscape, Comcast has announced its intention to spin off several of its prominent cable networks, including MSNBC and CNBC, into an independent entity. The decision,