TIMELINE: Some key deals at NBC

(Reuters) - General Electric Co is holding discussions on partnerships or an IPO for its NBC Universal unit, Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt said, as expectations grow about a deal with cable operator Comcast Corp.

Here is a list of some of the key deals signed by NBC:

July 1994 - The UK's Independent Television News (ITN) signs a multi-million dollar deal to supply news coverage to NBC. The deal means ITN will supply NBC exclusively among U.S. commercial broadcasters and extends a relationship that provides coverage to Super Channel, NBC's European satellite.

-- NBC and Mexico's second-biggest TV company Television Azteca sign an agreement establishing a strategic alliance as part of NBC's international expansion plans. The deal gives NBC, a three-year option to buy between 10 percent and 20 percent of Azteca for $120 million to $240 million.

August 1995 - Acquires Outlet Communications Inc., which owns three television stations in top-50 markets, for about $397 million. The addition of Outlet's TV stations will mean that NBC-owned stations will reach about 23.4 percent of U.S. TV households.

October 2001 - NBC buys No. 2 Spanish-language television network Telemundo Corp. in a $1.98 billion stock and cash deal, plus $700 million of debt, signaling General Electric's intention to stay in the network television business.

November 2002 - Says will buy Cablevision Systems Corp.'s Bravo cable television network, in a deal valued at $1.25 billion, giving NBC a cable outlet for its entertainment shows.

May 2004 - Vivendi and GE complete NBC Universal deal. Under the deal, shareholders of Vivendi Universal Entertainment received $3.65 billion in cash while NBC assumed $1.7 billion of Vivendi's debt.

March 2006 - Says it would buy iVillage Inc., an operator of a network of Web sites for women, for $600 million, marking a move by a major media company to use its programing foundation to tap further into growing online communities.

April 2006 - Sells its television stations WNCN in Raleigh, North Carolina; WCMH in Columbus, Ohio; WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama; and WJAR in Providence, Rhode Island to newspaper and television company Media General Inc. for $600 million.

August 2007 - Says it will double the size of its cable operations outside the U.S. with the acquisition of Sparrowhawk Media, the private equity-backed owner of the Hallmark channel. Sparrowhawk, with 18 channels, will be integrated into NBC's global networks division, bolstering its channel offering to 30 and bringing in an additional 60 million subscribers. The deal is said to be worth $350 million.

November 2007 - NBCU acquires Oxygen Media, the cable channel that caters for women and was co-founded by Oprah Winfrey, for $925 million in a bid to win a larger female audience and more closely link its TV and Internet businesses.

July 2008 - NBC and private equity firms Bain Capital and Blackstone Group agree to buy The Weather Channel from Landmark Communications. Sources familiar with the transaction valued the deal at about just under $3.5 billion.

October 2009 - GE and Comcast discuss a deal under which the largest U.S. cable firm would take control of 51 percent of NBC Universal with GE keeping the rest.

(Writing by Carl Bagh, Bangalore Editorial Reference Unit; Additional writing and editing by David Cutler; editing by Rupert Winchester)