<TABLE border=0 xmlns:fo="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Format"><TBODY><TR><TD class=IGEfloatLeft align=left width="42%">http://nbcuniversal.home.ge.com/ige/images/95951_Universal Orlando Logo 140x140.jpg</TD><TD class=IGEnewsTitle vAlign=top align=left>Anniversary Approaches for Universal
Year One
Source: Orlando Sentinel
19 April 2005
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Theme parks' attendance and profits are up under NBC Universal.
Universal Orlando has had nearly as many owners or part owners through the years as there are twists in the Incredible Hulk Coaster at Islands of Adventure.
Think of MCA, Matsua, Seagram, Vivendi, Blackstone, among others. Now, General Electric.
But Tom Williams, the Orlando-based chairman and chief executive of Universal Parks & Resorts worldwide, is feeling solid ground as the one year anniversary with the new owner nears.
"From the beginning, there's been a great deal of harmony," Williams said Monday during an interview in his Orlando office, as long lines formed for hot rides such as the Revenge of the Mummy and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.
But fortuitous timing also helped smooth the transition in the past year. Universal Orlando, for example, turned its first annual profit since Islands of Adventure opened in 1999, and paid attendance was up. Despite three hurricanes last year, 12.1 million people visited Islands and Universal Studios -- a 14 percent increase over the year before.
Universal Orlando eked out $22.5 million in net income, up from a loss of $52.2 million the year before. Operating revenue rose 19 percent to $865 million. The current year is off to another good start.
Still, Williams said, no one can predict how long the marriage to the GE-NBC family might last. Some analysts have suggested that GE has no long-term interest in theme parks, with their high fixed costs and slow growth rates.
GE execs said early on that they were not looking for parks when they went after Universal's movie and film library to merge with NBC's media holdings.
"I would certainly hope it's a long time," Williams said of the NBC Universal relationship. But if not, he said, "we will still be a better company, for having been owned by them."
So far, the parks are being integrated into the NBC media structure through joint programs and marketing opportunities. The hit NBC Fear Factor reality show, for example, recently taped its season finale at Universal Orlando and the parks are in the early stages of creating an "Olympic experience" to tie in with NBC's telecast of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.
But the parks' global reach has been pared back in the past year, with the sale of ownership in the park in Spain and cancellation of theme-park development plans in China. The park in Spain now generates licensing fees only for the company, and future overseas ventures also are expected to be limited to licensing rather than ownership, Williams said.
But General Electric has shown no signs of being in a rush to spin off the parks, said Steve Baker, principal of Baker Leisure Group in Orlando, a longtime industry consulting firm. "GE is taking their time. All the parks are doing well right now," he said.
The main reason GE can take a long hard look, he said, is because the theme parks are so small relative to the total size of the company. "I've said all along that it can't really hurt them, or help them for that matter, in any significant way. So there's no need to be in a hurry. They're in a good position."
NBC Universal, the division that resulted from the May 2004 merger, is one of 11 divisions in GE, and the unit's $12.9 billion in revenue for 2004 accounted for about 8 percent of GE's total gross of $152 billion. Parks accounted for about 5 percent of profit for the division.
"It's a big company," Williams said. "I don't think we stand out," as an obvious spinoff candidate.
For now, Williams, 57, said he is looking forward to a stable relationship with General Electric. He is one of 12 members of the NBC Universal board, and recently completed consolidating the senior parks and resort management staff in Orlando -- ensuring Orlando's position as the operational headquarters.
Williams said he has nothing to report about future rides for Universal Orlando, which employs about 13,000 people. But he noted that the company has about 175 acres of open land off Turkey Lake Road north of Interstate 4, land that would be good for more hotels.
Universal Orlando has 2,400 hotel rooms but is zoned for 5,500. "You can see how readily it might work," he said, looking at a map of the property, just south of Islands of Adventure.
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Year One
Source: Orlando Sentinel
19 April 2005
</TD></TR><TR><TD colSpan=2>
Theme parks' attendance and profits are up under NBC Universal.
Universal Orlando has had nearly as many owners or part owners through the years as there are twists in the Incredible Hulk Coaster at Islands of Adventure.
Think of MCA, Matsua, Seagram, Vivendi, Blackstone, among others. Now, General Electric.
But Tom Williams, the Orlando-based chairman and chief executive of Universal Parks & Resorts worldwide, is feeling solid ground as the one year anniversary with the new owner nears.
"From the beginning, there's been a great deal of harmony," Williams said Monday during an interview in his Orlando office, as long lines formed for hot rides such as the Revenge of the Mummy and The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man.
But fortuitous timing also helped smooth the transition in the past year. Universal Orlando, for example, turned its first annual profit since Islands of Adventure opened in 1999, and paid attendance was up. Despite three hurricanes last year, 12.1 million people visited Islands and Universal Studios -- a 14 percent increase over the year before.
Universal Orlando eked out $22.5 million in net income, up from a loss of $52.2 million the year before. Operating revenue rose 19 percent to $865 million. The current year is off to another good start.
Still, Williams said, no one can predict how long the marriage to the GE-NBC family might last. Some analysts have suggested that GE has no long-term interest in theme parks, with their high fixed costs and slow growth rates.
GE execs said early on that they were not looking for parks when they went after Universal's movie and film library to merge with NBC's media holdings.
"I would certainly hope it's a long time," Williams said of the NBC Universal relationship. But if not, he said, "we will still be a better company, for having been owned by them."
So far, the parks are being integrated into the NBC media structure through joint programs and marketing opportunities. The hit NBC Fear Factor reality show, for example, recently taped its season finale at Universal Orlando and the parks are in the early stages of creating an "Olympic experience" to tie in with NBC's telecast of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy.
But the parks' global reach has been pared back in the past year, with the sale of ownership in the park in Spain and cancellation of theme-park development plans in China. The park in Spain now generates licensing fees only for the company, and future overseas ventures also are expected to be limited to licensing rather than ownership, Williams said.
But General Electric has shown no signs of being in a rush to spin off the parks, said Steve Baker, principal of Baker Leisure Group in Orlando, a longtime industry consulting firm. "GE is taking their time. All the parks are doing well right now," he said.
The main reason GE can take a long hard look, he said, is because the theme parks are so small relative to the total size of the company. "I've said all along that it can't really hurt them, or help them for that matter, in any significant way. So there's no need to be in a hurry. They're in a good position."
NBC Universal, the division that resulted from the May 2004 merger, is one of 11 divisions in GE, and the unit's $12.9 billion in revenue for 2004 accounted for about 8 percent of GE's total gross of $152 billion. Parks accounted for about 5 percent of profit for the division.
"It's a big company," Williams said. "I don't think we stand out," as an obvious spinoff candidate.
For now, Williams, 57, said he is looking forward to a stable relationship with General Electric. He is one of 12 members of the NBC Universal board, and recently completed consolidating the senior parks and resort management staff in Orlando -- ensuring Orlando's position as the operational headquarters.
Williams said he has nothing to report about future rides for Universal Orlando, which employs about 13,000 people. But he noted that the company has about 175 acres of open land off Turkey Lake Road north of Interstate 4, land that would be good for more hotels.
Universal Orlando has 2,400 hotel rooms but is zoned for 5,500. "You can see how readily it might work," he said, looking at a map of the property, just south of Islands of Adventure.
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