NBC Universal agreed to buy Oxygen Media, the cable-television network co-founded by Oprah Winfrey, for $925 million to attract younger female viewers. The broadcaster, a unit of General Electric Co., will promote Oxygen on the Bravo channel, the “Today” show and the iVillage Web site it bought last year for $600 million. More than 40% of Oxygen’s viewers are women between 18 and 49, helping NBC target a demographic coveted by advertisers.

“Oxygen is a good fit with the portfolio of cable networks,” a Standard & Poor’s analyst in New York, Richard Tortoriello, said. He rates GE shares “strong buy” and doesn’t own any. “They could sell Oxygen in the international market where it probably doesn’t have a subscriber base right now.” The purchase will add to profit after the first full year under NBC, the broadcaster said yesterday in a statement. It will pay for Oxygen through the sale of two independent Telemundo TV stations in Los Angeles and Puerto Rico.

Available in more than 74 million homes, Oxygen will help save about $35 million next year, NBC said.