The Business of Television : Comcast

NFL, CBS Extend Broadcast Deal Through 2013-14

News — Tue, 19 May 2009 21:53:12 GMT

The NFL and CBS have made an agreement to extend their American Football Conference broadcast deal for two years, through the 2013-14 season. The deal gives CBS broadcast rights to Super Bowl XLVII in the first year of the agreement. The NFL also announced...(read more)

Comcast, NFL Bury Hatchet; Cable Co. to Carry NFL Network

News — Tue, 19 May 2009 14:45:35 GMT

Comcast Corp., the biggest U.S. cable company, and the National Football League ended a dispute over carriage of the NFL Network, meaning the channel will be carried on the operator's system. The deal settles all legal disputes over the matter and...(read more)

DirecTV, Comcast Pay $3.21 Mil in Do Not Call Fines

News — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:59:27 GMT

DirecTV and Comcast Corp. will pay a total of $3.21 million for violating Do Not Call provisions of the Telemarketing Sales Rule. DirecTV and Comcast will pay $2.31 million and $900,000, respectively, to settle separate Federal Trade Commission charges...(read more)

Dish Network, NFL Network End Carriage Dispute

News — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:17:03 GMT

Dish Network and NFL Network have reached a settlement in their carriage dispute. The settlement calls for a new multiyear carriage agreement. NFL Network will be carried in Dish Network’s Classic Silver 200 programming package. “We are very pleased that...(read more)

Cable Show ’09: Industry Plots New TV Distribution Strategy

News — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:53:00 GMT

Even with the economy in recession, even with television distribution models in upheaval, even with the advertising business suffering, business was surprisingly good at the Cable Show ’09. Beating predictions of a serious attendance drop, the National...(read more)

Cable Show ’09: Floating Over Economic Tsunamis

News — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 03:47:00 GMT

Executives at the National Cable & Telecommunications Association’s Cable Show ’09 last week were relatively upbeat about their prospects. “We’re an industry that is still growing customers,” said Pat Esser, CEO of Cox Communications. Consumers see...(read more)

Comast’s Burke Says TV Everywhere Tests on Tap

News — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 18:05:48 GMT

Steve Burke, chief operating officer of Comcast, said the top cable operator plans a national test of system to authenticate that consumers are cable subscribers before allowing them to view cable programming online or on mobile devices. Authentication...(read more)

Comcast’s Roberts: Web Video Comes in Peace

News — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 20:49:51 GMT

Brian Roberts, CEO of Comcast, the nation’s largest cable company, says that Web video can be a friend of the cable industry. Taking part in the opening session at the National Cable and Telecommunications Association’s Cable Show in Washington, D.C....(read more)

Comcast's E! Extends Chelsea Handler Deal

News — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:52:34 GMT

Comcast Entertainment Group reached a new deal with comedienne Chelsea Handler that will keep her as host and executive producer of E! Entertainment’s late night “Chelsea Lately” show through 2012. The new agreement also calls for Ms. Handler to develop...(read more)

Comcast Tops Cable MSOs in Subscribers, Report Says

News — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:45:55 GMT

Comcast has the most cable MSO subscribers in the U.S.' top 40 markets, according to SNL Kagan’s “Cable MSO Ownership: A Geographic Analysis” report. Comcast’s MSO has more than 20 million subscribers, representing 49.7% of the market share in the...(read more)

‘Twilight’ Goes VOD on Comcast

News — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 20:58:11 GMT

Comcast On Demand will offer “Twilight” at 12:01 p.m. on Saturday, March 21, the same day the DVD lands in stores, the cable company announced today. "Attention Twilighters: at 12:01 a.m. you can watch Twilight in HD the moment it's available...(read more)

Online Access to Cable Programming Is Next Test for Multichannel Providers

News — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 03:36:00 GMT

The ability of multichannel providers to launch companion online services for viewing cable programming will divide them into the haves and the have-nots over the next decade, according to a report from the Diffusion Group scheduled to be released today...(read more)

Fanning the Flame

News — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:33:00 GMT

Overshadowed by the more popular Hulu, Comcast-owned online video portal Fancast is tapping its parent’s connections to make a bigger name for itself online. Fancast, an online video destination for television shows, draws nearly 3 million unique visitors...(read more)

Column: Where Are Cord-Cutters? Signing Up for Cable, Satellite

News — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 03:30:00 GMT

Evidently, the revolution hasn’t started yet. My army of cord-cutters has yet to march up and stand by my side. According to industry analyst Craig Moffett, they’re actually going the other way, back to the multichannel mothership. In a recent report...(read more)

Satellite TV vs. TV Stations, Round Two

News — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 22:36:26 GMT

For the second time in two days, Congress is hearing calls for a major revamping of the laws governing compensation of TV stations and programmers by satellite-television providers and cable companies. The discussion comes as Congress starts considering...(read more)