Revenue 2023: US$ 121,572 billion (€ 112,430 billion)

Overview

Since its founding in 1963, the small cable TV company has become a colossal media group, at times (2011-2015) the largest in the world. Today, Comcast is the largest cable TV provider in the US, ahead of Charter (9th place in the IfM rankings) and Warner Bros. Discovery (12th place). The portfolio also includes Hollywood studios, news and entertainment channels, a video-on-demandproviders, theme parks, a multi-purpose arena and the Philadelphia Flyers ice hockey team.

General Information

Headquarters:
Comcast Corporation
One Comcast Center
Philadelphia, PA 19102-2148
USA
Telephone 001 215 286 1700
Website: corporate.comcast.com

NBCUniversal Media, LLC
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112-0015
USA
Telephone 001 212 664 4444
Website: http://www.nbcuniversal.com/about

Branches of trade: Film and TV production, pay TV, speciality channels, cable networks, telecommunications, Internet services, theme parks, hotels
Legal form: Public stock company (since 1972)
Financial year: 01.01. – 31.12.
Founding year: 1969

Basic economic data (in billion US$)

	2023	2022	2021	2020	2019	2018
Revenue	121,6	121,4	116,4	103,6	108,9	94,5
Profit	15,4	5,4	14,2	10,5	13,1	11,7
Stock price (year end)	43,04	34,97	50,33	52,40	45,01	35,81
Employees	186.000	186.000	189.000	168.000	190.000	184.000

Turnover by division (in US$ billion)

	2023	2022	2021
Connectivity & Platforms (broadband, wireless, video and wireline voice businesses, Sky entertainment TV)	81,2	81,2	80,75
Media	25,4	26,7	27,4
studios	11,6	12,3	10,1
Theme Parks	8,9	7,5	5,1

Executives and Directors

 Management:

• Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation
• Jason S. Armstrong, Chief Financial Officer
• Lisa Bonnell, Executive Vice President, Comcast Global Audit & General Auditor
• Francis M. Buono, Executive Vice President, Legal Regulatory Affairs & Senior Deputy General Counsel
• Karen Dougherty Buchholz, Executive Vice President, Administration 
• Michael J. Cavanagh, President, Comcast Corporation
• Lynn R. Charytan, Executive Vice President & Senior Deputy General Counsel, Comcast Corporation and Executive Vice President & General Counsel, Comcast Cable
• Kristine Dankenbrink, Executive Vice President, Tax
• Bob Eatroff, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Development & Strategy
• Kimberley D. Harris, Executive Vice President, Comcast Corporation and General Counsel of NBCUniversal
• Daniel J. Hilferty, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Spectator
• Greg Horn, Executive Vice President, Corporate Financial Planning and Analysis
• Broderick Johnson, Executive Vice President, Public Policy & Executive Vice President, Digital Equity
• Jennifer Khoury, Chief Communications Officer
• Anand Kini, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Comcast Corporation and Chief Financial Officer, NBCUniversal
• Daniel C. Murdock, Executive Vice President, Chief Accounting Officer & Controller
• Thomas J. Reid, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary
• Marci Ryvicker, Executive Vice President, Investor Relations
• Dana Strong, Group Chief Executive Officer, Sky
• David N. Watson, President and CEO, Comcast Cable
• Lance West, EVP, Federal Government Affairs & Head of the Washington, DC Office
• Dalila Wilson-Scott, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Comcast Corporation & President, Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation

Supervisory Board:

• Kenneth J. Bacon
• Thomas J. Baltimore Jr.
• Madeline S. Bell
• Louise F. Brady
• Edward D. Breen
• Jeffrey A. Honickman
• Wonya Y. Lucas
• Asuka Nakahara
• David C. Novak
• Brian L. Roberts

History

In 1963, Ralph J. Roberts and two partners bought the TV cable network provider American Cable Systems, with 1,200 customers in the Tupelo/Mississippi area, for 500,000 US dollars. In 1969, Roberts renamed his company Comcast ("COMmunication"/"broadCAST"). With the purchase of regional cable networks (1986 Group W Cable, 1988 Storer Communications), the number of subscribers increased to over two million. In 1981, Ralph J. Roberts' son Brian (born 1959) joined the company as a cable installer, and in 1990 the generational change began: Brian Roberts joined Comcast as aPresident . In 1995, Comcast secured a 57 per cent stake in the teleshopping channel QVC (which was sold on to Liberty Media in 2003) in a 1.4 billion deal together with TCI, and in 1997, as a joint venture with Disney, it acquired a controlling stake in the showbiz channel E! Entertainment: diversification in the direction of programme production was accelerated.

At the time, company founder Ralph Roberts still appeared at the company headquarters every day, which was viewed with scepticism by the industry. However, with the transfer of the voting shares at the end of 1997, the change of guard at the top of the company was considered to be complete. Observers spoke of a smooth generational transfer - despite the enormous potential for conflict within the family that transactions of this size harbour.

In 1999, there was competition for cable rival MediaOne, the number four in the business at the time. At the end of March, Comcast had already announced the merger with MediaOne when AT&T appeared with a 58 billion counteroffer. Comcast ultimately had to abandon the plan, but in return was able to acquire two million cable households from AT&T for around nine billion US dollars. Other cable acquisitions (selection): Maclean Hunter (with 550,000 customers) in 1994, E.W. Scripps (800,000) in 1995, Jones Intercable (1 million) in 1998, Prime Communications (430,000) in 1998, Greater Philadelphia Cablevision (79,999) in 1999, Lenfest Communications (1.3 million) in 2000.

In 2001, Comcast had the opportunity to take revenge for the failed MediaOne deal when AT&T announced the sale of its cable business - a division that had only been created in 1999 with the purchase of Tele-Communications Inc., the second largest cable television provider in the US at the time (after Time Warner). AT&T CEO Michael Armstrong invested 100 billion in the cable networks until investors lost patience and the share price came under pressure. In 2001, the heavily indebted telephone giant announced that it wanted to sell off its cable division: a heated bidding war began. In addition to Comcast, AOL Time Warner and Cox Communications competed for AT&T Broadband and its then over 13 million customers. In the end, Comcast won, with a powerful ally. Microsoft helped out with billions, primarily to prevent a victory for Time Warner, its arch-rival in the broadband business. Comcast was awarded the contract shortly before Christmas 2001 for 47 billion dollars (and the assumption of 25 billion dollars in debt). And with a total of 21.4 million cable customers, it became the largest provider in the USA. In 2004, Brian Roberts came up with the risky plan of a hostile takeover of the Disney Group. The 66 billion dollar offer was not approved by either Disney's owners or Comcast's shareholders, and Roberts had to capitulate in April. A year later, he was able to finalize a major merger. In April 2005, Comcast and Time Warner bought Adelphia, the bankrupt number five in the US cable industry. And gained another 1.8 million customers.

However, Brian Roberts' big coup came with the takeover of NBCUniversal. In 2009, Comcast and NBCUniversal's parent company General Electric announced the plan. In January 2011, the regulatory authority FCC gave the green light for the 13.8 billion deal and Comcast gained 13 cable channels, three news channels, five sports channels, four theme parks (Hollywood, Florida, Japan, Singapore) and a Hollywood studio. And not just any studio. Universal Pictures, founded by Württemberg immigrant Carl Laemmle (1867-1939), is the world's oldest film studio of the Hollywood ‘Big Five’: Universal, Columbia (part of Sony), Walt Disney, Warner, Paramount. At the beginning of film history, Laemmle invented the star system around 1910 and developed a vertically integrated major studio with the Universal Film Manufacturing Company. Film production, distribution and screening in its own cinemas from a single source: a central element of the studio system in the ‘golden age of Hollywood’. Universal initially specialised in horror films and made classics of film history with ‘Frankenstein’, ‘Dracula’, ‘The Mummy’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’.

A series of media groups (MCA, Matsushita, Seagram, Vivendi) then bought and sold Universal Studios and theme parks until they ended up with the conglomerate General Electric in 2004. GE also owned the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), one of the big three commercial, US-wide TV networks alongside ABC (now part of Disney) and CBS (now Paramount Global) from the early days of television in the 1940s. The super-conglomerate known as NBCUniversal was thus created under the GE umbrella, with its headquarters in the 70-storey GE Building (previously the RCA Building) in the centre of the Rockefeller Center complex on New York's 5th Avenue. Then in 2011, Brian Roberts came along, bought NBCUniversal and the GE Building became the Comcast Building.

As a result, in 2015 Comcast failed in its attempt to take over the second largest US cable company, Time Warner Cable, for $45.2 billion. The Justice Department objected and the deal was called off. Charter Communications was successful a month later for $78.7 billion. Comcast also soon dropped the takeover of 21st Century Fox, which had been announced in November 2017. "We never got the level of engagement needed to make a definitive offer." Disney was famously able to strike here for $71.3 billion. In return, Brian Roberts was successful in purchasing DreamWorks Animation in April 2016 (for $3.8 billion) and in purchasing the British pay-TV group Sky in September 2018 (where he prevailed against 21st Century Fox in the last round of auctions for £30 billion).

Although classic paid TV from US cable giants (mainly Comcast and Charter) is still the norm, it is increasingly on the decline. Of the major pay TV and cable providers in the US, which lost a total of 5.8 million customers in 2022, Comcast was hit hardest with over two million. In addition, the pandemic has increased viewer switching, according to Jeff Shell, CEO of NBCUniversal.

What else could Comcast do but set up its own streamer? ‘Peacock’ (the “peacock” that refers to the NBC logo) went on air in the USA on 15 July 2020. Initially with success, even though there are dozens of video platforms in the USA alone. By the end of January 2021, Peacock had 33 million subscribers. With an extensive catalogue of current and older productions, hundreds of films from Hollywood studios Universal and Focus, everything that has ever been shown on the NBC network and its Spanish-language subsidiary Telemundo, sports from all disciplines, news, late-night shows. Around 20,000 hours of programmes. Licensing of its own productions to third parties was of course discontinued. However, Peacock has to assert itself against the established offerings from Netflix, Disney plus, Apple TV plus, Amazon Prime Video and HBO Max.

At the end of 2022, Comcast and ViacomCBS (now Paramount Global) launched the streaming service "SkyShowtime", available via mobile devices, online and smart TVs in 22 European countries with content from Universal, DreamWorks, Paramount+, Showtime, Sky and Peacock, among others. Not, however, in Germany, Great Britain, Ireland and Italy (i.e. everywhere where Sky TV is already available). In Germany, Peacock was temporarily available via Sky Deutschland. At least until the end of 2022, when the channel suddenly disappeared from the offer. Sky Deutschland, one could also read, is basically coming to an end. Blickpunkt Film, for example, quoted Variety on June 29, 2023 with the news that Sky Deutschland boss Devesh Raj had said internally that they would "start producing their own fictional films from 2024 originals“ in the DACH region. On the other hand, Der Westen (Funke Medien) reported in mid-October 2023 about the “crazy turnaround” of Dana Strong, CEO of the Sky Group. According to her, Germany has “potential”. “Surprising words from the CEO” that sounded like “a clear declaration of loyalty” to the German branch of Sky, after numerous sales rumors (to 1&1, Canal+, ProSiebenSat.1).

management

Like his father, company founder Ralph Roberts, who died in 2015 at the age of 95, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts (born 1959) is an ‘old-fashioned cable guy’. Billionaire, married in his first marriage, three children, he is regarded as less eccentric than most other super-rich cable barons, as someone who operates in the background. He joined the company in 1981 as a cable installer, and by the end of the 1990s the smooth generational transfer had been completed. Today, Brian Roberts holds 33% of the voting ‘Class B’ shares and is CEO for life, so to speak. The Comcast company constitution contains the following provision: ‘Mr Brian L. Roberts shall be appointed Chairman of the Board if he so desires and for so long as he is able.’ No mention of the usual discharge of top managers at annual general meetings. The technology magazine Wired called him the "Dark Lord of Broadband".

Comcast is considered to be a company that is extremely unfriendly to customers and employees. On the one hand, the company is fighting against unionization of its employees, while at the same time, CEO Brian Roberts earned $36 million in 2017, a thousand times more than the average Comcast employee. It is no surprise that Comcast is ranked seventh on the list of the “most hated brands in the world” in July 2023 (yahoo!finance).

Business segments

Under Cable Communications or rather the XfinityThe activities of the largest cable television provider in the US can be found in the Comcast brand, which is by far the most profitable business segment with a share of 52 percent in 2022. Sales in 2023: 81.2 billion EUR.

NBCUniversal, “one of the world's leading media and entertainment companies”, is in turn divided into three segments. Media consists essentially of the group's television and streaming platforms, i.e. news channels (CNBC, MSNBC), entertainment (including USA Network, E!, Syfy, Bravo, Oxygen, Universal Kids) and sports channels (NBC Sports, The Olympic Channel, Golf Channel). The nationwide networks of NBC, the Spanish-language Telemundo (Miami, Florida) and the streaming provider Peacock (video-on-demand, comparable to Netflix, Prime Video), founded in 2020. studios are NBCUniversal's film production and distribution division. The studios Universal Pictures, Illumination, DreamWorks Animation, Focus Features and Working Title develop, produce, acquire, market and distribute films worldwide. Theme Parks finally, it refers to the locations in Orlando (Florida), Hollywood, Osaka (Japan) and Beijing (China). Sales in 2023: 43.2 billion EUR.

Sky includes the business of Sky plc, founded in 1989 by Rupert Murdoch as the "UK's first satellite TV service", which Comcast took over in September 2018. Sales in 2022: 17.2 billion EUR.

Other business interests are the assets of the “Philadelphia Flyers” (NHL ice hockey team) and the “Wells Fargo Center” multi-purpose arena in Philadelphia, which are summarized under “Comcast Spectacor”.

Current developments

On November 20, 2024, it was announced that Comcast plans to spin off NBCUniversal's cable channels. More specifically, the linear cable channels MSNBC, CNBC, E!, Syfy, Golf Channel, Oxygen and USA are to be merged into an independent company (provisional name: SpinCo), under the leadership of NBCU Media Group CEO Mark Lazarus. Mike Cavanagh, President of Comcast, said in an internal memo: "This will enable SpinCo and NBCUniversal to be aggressive in a changing media landscape." The Comcast homepage states: "SpinCo will be an industry-leading cable news, sports and entertainment company," which is to be established by the end of 2025 and which had revenues of seven billion US dollars in the "fiscal year ended September 30." The news channel NBC, streamer Peacock and reality TV channel Bravo, on the other hand, will remain with NBCUniversal.

Comcast CEO Brian L. Roberts: "Like many of our competitors in the media industry, we are experiencing the impact of the transition of our video businesses and have been examining the best path for the future of these assets." What he means is the upheaval that the US television industry has been going through for years, the constant decline in subscribers, the loss of advertising revenue. They say: "Cut the cord", "cord cutting", "cut the cable". Younger people in particular are using cheaper streaming services on laptops and smartphones.

This "cable spin-off," the creation of a publicly traded company in 2025, is a major change that has sparked differing opinions and criticism. For example, Tom Rogers, former president of NBC Cable, said according to CNN: "I don't just see this as an opportunity for Comcast to get rid of problematic assets because cable channels are facing cable subscription cuts... To me, it's more an opportunity for some really strong media companies to expand."

Media analyst Rich Greenfield (Lightshed Partners), on the other hand, said: "It's a very clear statement from Comcast that they're getting out of the cable business... They're saying: We don't want to be in this business. It's not a growth business anymore. It's going to be around for a long time, but it's just not a growth business anymore." Matt Stoller (American Economic Liberties Project) also said that the spin-off was only "a prelude to a major re-consolidation of the industry or a sale of these assets to private equity."

Disney, Comcast's biggest rival, is taking a different approach. Disney CFO Hugh Johnston said the "costs" of separating the television channels from the rest of the company "are likely to outweigh the benefits."