Comcast

Comcast Corporation

Logo used since January 11, 2024
Comcast Center, the company's headquarters in Philadelphia
Trade name	Comcast
Formerly	American Cable Systems (1963–1968) Comcast Holdings (1968–2000)
Company type	Public
Traded as	Nasdaq: CMCSA (Class A) Nasdaq-100 component S&P 100 component S&P 500 component
Industry	Telecommunications Media Entertainment
Founded	June 28, 1963; 60 years ago (1963-06-28) Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.
Founder	Ralph J. Roberts
Headquarters	Comcast Center, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania , U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Brian L. Roberts (chairman & CEO) Michael J. Cavanagh (president)
Products	Cable television Broadband Internet service Broadcasting
Revenue	US$121.6 billion (2023)
Operating income	US$23.31 billion (2023)
Net income	US$15.11 billion (2023)
Total assets	US$264.8 billion (2023)
Total equity	US$83.23 billion (2023)
Owner	Brian L. Roberts (1% equity interest, 33% voting power)
Number of employees	186,000 (2023)
Divisions	Xfinity Comcast Spectacor
Subsidiaries	Midco (49%) NBCUniversal Sky Group
ASN	7922
Website	corporate.comcast.com
Footnotes / references [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]

Comcast Corporation (simply known as Comcast, and formerly known as American Cable Systems and Comcast Holdings),^{[note 1]} incorporated and headquartered in Philadelphia, is an American multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate.^[8] The corporation is the second-largest broadcasting and cable television company in the world by revenue (behind AT&T). It is the third-largest pay-TV company, the second-largest cable TV company by subscribers, and the largest home Internet service provider in the United States. In 2023, the company was ranked 51st in the Forbes Global 2000.^[9] Comcast is additionally the nation's third-largest home telephone service provider. It provides services to U.S. residential and commercial customers in 40 states and the District of Columbia.^[10] As the owner of the international media company NBCUniversal since 2011, Comcast is also a high-volume producer of feature films for theatrical exhibition and television programming, and a theme park operator. It is the world's third-largest telecommunications company by revenue.

Comcast owns and operates the Xfinity residential cable communications business segment and division; Comcast Business, a commercial services provider; and Xfinity Mobile, an MVNO of Verizon. Through NBCUniversal, it also owns and operates over-the-air national broadcast network channels such as NBC, Telemundo, TeleXitos, and Cozi TV; multiple cable-only channels such as MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Syfy, Oxygen, Bravo, and E!; the film studio Universal Pictures; the VOD streaming service Peacock; animation studios DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, and Universal Animation Studios; and Universal Destinations & Experiences. It also has significant holdings in digital distribution, such as thePlatform, which it acquired in 2006; and ad-tech company FreeWheel, which it acquired in 2014. Since October 2018, it has also been the parent company of Sky Group.^[11]

Comcast has been criticized and put under intense public scrutiny for a variety of reasons. Its customer satisfaction ratings were among the lowest in the cable industry during the years 2008–2010.^[12][13] It has violated net neutrality practices in the past, and, despite its commitment to a narrow definition of net neutrality,^[14] critics advocate a definition that precludes any distinction between Comcast's private network services and the rest of the Internet.^[15] Critics also point out a lack of competition in the vast majority of Comcast's service areas; in particular, the limited competition among cable providers.^[16] Given its negotiating power as a large ISP, some suspect that it could leverage paid peering agreements to unfairly influence end-user connection speeds. Its ownership of both content production (in NBCUniversal) and distribution (as an ISP) has raised antitrust concerns. These issues and others led to Comcast being dubbed "The Worst Company in America" by The Consumerist in 2010 and 2014.^[17][18]

Evolution of Comcast NBCUniversal

1912	Universal Pictures is founded
1926	NBC is founded
1928	Universal Cartoon Studios (later known as Walter Lantz Productions) is founded
1943	MCA Inc. establishes Revue Studios (later Universal Television)
1953	NBC begins first compatible color broadcasts, preceding other networks by nine years
1956	NBC's first peacock logo debuts
1963	American Cable Systems is founded
1964	Universal Studios Hollywood opens
1967	NBC broadcasts the first Super Bowl
1968	American Cable Systems rebrands to Comcast
1972	Comcast began trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
1975	Universal releases Jaws
1980	PolyGram renames Casablanca Record & Filmworks to PolyGram Pictures
1982	Universal releases E.T. The Extra Terrestrial
1984	Walter Lantz Productions is sold to Universal
1985	Universal releases Back to the Future
1986	General Electric buys RCA for $6.4 billion, including NBC and a stake in A&E
1989	NBC relaunches Tempo Television as CNBC
1990	Universal Studios Florida opens Law & Order premieres on NBC Sky Television and British Satellite Broadcasting merge to form British Sky Broadcasting Universal Cartoon Studios (later Universal Animation Studios) is established
1993	Universal releases Jurassic Park
1994	DreamWorks Animation is founded
1996	NBC and Microsoft launch MSNBC
1997	Barry Diller purchases Universal's domestic television assets
1998	Seagram acquires PolyGram Filmed Entertainment Universal Television is renamed Studios USA Television
1999	PolyGram Filmed Entertainment is folded into Universal Pictures Universal Studios Florida expands to become Universal Orlando Resort Law & Order: Special Victims Unit premieres on NBC
2001	Grand opening of Universal Studios Japan Universal releases The Fast and the Furious Vivendi purchases Studios USA
2002	NBC acquires Telemundo and Bravo Studios USA assets are folded into Universal Focus Features is formed Comcast acquires AT&T Broadband for $44.5 billion
2003	Universal becomes the first studio with five summer releases breaking the $100 million mark
2004	GE and Vivendi merge NBC and Universal into NBCUniversal
2005	The Office premieres on NBC Comcast sets up a joint-venture with PBS, Sesame Workshop & HIT Entertainment to form PBS Kids Sprout Comcast & Time Warner Cable jointly acquire Adelphia Cable assets for $17.6 billion
2006	USA Network begins 13-year streak as #1 cable network in total viewers
2007	Illumination is founded
2010	Universal releases Illumination's first film Despicable Me
2011	Vivendi divested in NBCU; Comcast buys 51% of NBCU from GE, turning it into a limited liability company NBCUniversal Archives is founded
2012	Universal celebrates its 100th anniversary NBCUniversal divests its A&E Networks minority stake
2013	Comcast buys GE's remaining 49% of NBCU Comcast/NBCU assumes full ownership of Sprout
2014	Comcast attempts to acquire Time Warner Cable for $45.2 billion NBCUniversal reaches a new long-term deal with WWE
2016	NBCU acquires DreamWorks Animation
2017	Sprout relaunches as Universal Kids
2018	Comcast acquires Sky after a heated bidding war with 21st Century Fox
2019	NBCU acquires Cineo Lighting
2020	NBCU launches Peacock
2021	Grand opening of Universal Beijing Resort
2023	The Super Mario Bros. Movie becomes Illumination's highest-grossing film
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