NBC Universal on Tuesday said it would pay $925m for Oxygen Media, the women’s cable network, in another effort to move beyond its broadcast roots into the faster-growing cable sector.

Oxygen, which reaches 74m homes, will add to NBC’s growing stable of female-oriented media properties, including the iVillage health and lifestyle website it paid $600m for last year, the Bravo cable network and the Today show, its top-rated morning programme.