Comcast Corporation: Becoming The Media Giant

Becoming the media giant. On January 28, 2011, Comcast and General Electric finalized their agreement to form a joint venture consisting of NBCUniversal and Comcast’s cable networks, regional sports networks, and certain digital properties and unconsolidated investments. Under the contract, Comcast Corporation acquired 51% of NBCUniversal from General Electric, becoming the majority owner of the company. The $6.5 billion in cash and $7.25 billion in programming assets deal, creates “the ideal entertainment and distribution company,” said Comcast CEO Brian Robert (Money..). Furthermore, the deal was “a perfect fit for Comcast and will allow us to become the leader in the development and distribution of multiplatform ‘anytime, anywhere’ media

“By controlling both information and the ways people access that information—by cable, broadcast, and the internet – Comcast-NBC can and will block competition, stifle innovation and silence independent, and opposing viewpoints,” said Josh Silver, president of nonprofit organization Free Press (Money…). In addition to the deal with General Electric, Comcast also completed the purchase of 50 percent interest in Universal Studios from The Blackstone Group, becoming the 100 percent owners of Universal Studios Florida. 2011 was also a breakthrough year for Comcast’s broadcast television segment reaching long-term deals across several sports. First, NBCUniversal was awarded United States media rights for the 2014, 2016, 2018, and 2020 Olympic Games. NBC will have broadcast 11 consecutive Olympics at the conclusion of this deal. Comcast and NBCUniversal also reached 10-year deals with the National Football League, National Hockey League, and the FIFA World Cup (Comcast Corporation,

The deal with The Walt Disney Company in 2012 created a comprehensive distribution agreement that would deliver “Disney’s top quality sports, news and entertainment content to Comcast’s Xfinity TV customers” (Comcast Corporation, 2017). In February of the following year, Comcast acquired the remaining 49 percent stake in NBCUniversal from General Electric for $16.7 billion (Comcast Corporation, 2017). This deal gave the Philadelphia based company, 100 percent of the equity stake in NBCUniversal. Within days of the NBCUniversal agreement, Comcast reached a long-term deal with FOX that would bring a wide range of entertainment, sports, and local news content to Xfinity customers. At the conclusion of 2013, Comcast’s Internet Essentials hit one million low-income