{"id":28381,"date":"2016-10-16T18:07:47","date_gmt":"2016-10-16T22:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/?p=28381"},"modified":"2016-11-29T16:18:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-29T21:18:52","slug":"comcastnbcu-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bejone03.expressions.syr.edu\/trf235\/2016\/10\/16\/comcastnbcu-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Comcast\/NBCU"},"content":{"rendered":"
Thomas Meis, Tanya Motwani<\/pre>\n
\"comcast-logo\"<\/a><\/p>\n
The Comcast Corporation<\/h1>\n
History<\/h1>\n
Comcast began its history as American Cable Systems, a smaller cable operator from Mississippi. It was purchased by Ralph Roberts and his business partners in 1963, and in 1969 was moved to Pennsylvania. Here it was renamed \u201cComcast\u201d, a mixture of the words Communication and Broadcast. It then went public in 1972, and from there has been ever expanding.<\/p>\n
It is considered to be one of the least-liked media conglomerates, winning \u201cWorst Company in America\u201d twice. Most experts believe this to be true because of the large number of assets owned by Comcast, as well as the monopoly-like power they have in terms of pricing for their various subsidiaries.<\/p>\n
Key Executives<\/h1>\n
\"Brian<\/a>
[1]<\/a> Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO, Comcast Corporation<\/p><\/div>
\"Stephen<\/a>
[2]<\/a> Stephen B. Burke, CEO, NBCUniversal<\/p><\/div>
\"Michael<\/a>
[3]<\/a> Michael J. Cavanagh, CFO, Comcast Corporation<\/p><\/div><\/p>\n
Financials<\/h1>\n
Comcast has bought or merged with many different companies, including Spectacor, Microsoft, AT&T, Sony Pictures, and NBCUniversal.
\nNot only have they expanded into the telecommunications market, they have also bought stakes the sports market, because of their controlling stake in the Philadelphia Flyers [4]<\/a>.
\nIn 2014, they tried to buy Time Warner Cable, but were denied by many different fronts, the largest being that the government was worried that the merger would lead to Comcast having a monopoly in the broadband and video markets. Concerned citizens wrote to the government expressing their fears about the influence that a merged Comcast-TimeWarner conglomerate would have on the broadcast and TV-streaming platforms. The deal was officially abandoned<\/a> in April of 2015 [5]<\/a>.
\nComcast\u2019s most well known acquisition has been NBCUniversal, which has many different assets, ranging from professional sports to entertainment. Today, Comcast is one of the biggest telecommunications companies on the planet, with assets in television, film, gaming, distribution, and sports.<\/p>\n
Comcast has seen a steady increase in their stock price over the last year, which sits at $70.14 currently. In comparison to other media conglomerates, whose stocks have been seeing a decline, Comcast Cable Communications and NBCUniversal have both been doing well, leading to the surprising upward movement of the company’s stocks.<\/p>\n
\"Comcast's<\/a>
Comcast’s stock prices over the period of a year.<\/p><\/div>\n
 <\/p>\n
NBCUniversal<\/h1>\n
\"NBCUniversal-<\/a>
NBCUniversal- Divisions<\/p><\/div>\n
NBCUniversal (NBCU) is a media conglomerate that is a subsidiary of Comcast, after the latter acquired the former in a $6.5 billion deal in 2011.<\/p>\n
NBCU was originally formed in 2004<\/a>[6], when GE’s National Broadcasting Company merged with Vivendi’s Vivendi Universal Entertainment. Comcast expressed interest in buying NBCU from GE and Vivendi in 2009, bought a 51% stake in 2001, and fully owned the company by 2013 [7]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
NBCUniversal recently announced its extended partnership deal with BuzzFeed<\/a> [8]<\/a>, after a successful year-long initial deal. The two companies plan to collaborate on promotional and original content for both platforms, and aim to create new digital content for NBCUniversal’s premium users.
\nAnother deal that NBCUniversal announced was with Apple. Starting from January 2017, NBCUniversal will be the sole provider of advertising inventory on Apple’s app, Apple News<\/a>\u00a0[9]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
NBCUniversal is made up of two main divisions: NBC and Universal Studios.
\nApart from these two divisions, NBCUniversal also owns a part of the streaming service Hulu, along with Fox Entertainment Group, ABC, and Turner Broadcasting System.<\/p>\n
NBC<\/h1>\n
NBC<\/a>\u00a0[10]<\/a> is an american television broadcast network, with its headquarters in the Comcast Building in Rockerfeller Center, in New York City.
\nAs of 2015, NBC owns ten owned-and-run stations, and over 221 network affiliates in 48 states. The network has a national reach of 95.52% of all american homes.<\/p>\n
\"Cast<\/a>
Cast of Saturday Night Live<\/p><\/div>\n
NBC Programming broadcasts some of the most popular network television shows on air currently, including The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon<\/a>, The Voice<\/a>, Late Night With Seth Meyers<\/a>, and Saturday Night Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Universal Filmed Entertainment Group<\/h1>\n
Universal Studios<\/h2>\n
Universal Studios is the American film studio owned by the Universal Filmed Entertain Group, and is considered to be the oldest surviving film studio in the United States. Its film studios are based in Universal City, California.
\nUniversal Studios is credited as the first studio to release three films that each crossed over $1 billion in the box office<\/a>, a feat the company achieved in 2015. The studio has a large number of successful film franchises under its roof, including Jurassic Park, Back to the Future, and the Jason Bourne series.<\/p>\n
Universal Studios also has a large list of upcoming movies, including Pitch Perfect 3<\/a>, The Mummy<\/a>, and Fast 8<\/a> [11]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\"Universal<\/a>
Universal Studios Orlando<\/p><\/div>\n
Universal Studios OrlandoUniversal Parks & Resorts is a division of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, and operates all of the Universal theme parks and resorts all around the globe. It is known for its various rides and attractions that are based off of pop culture characters and has attracted over 50 million yearly visitors to its parks.
\nThe first Universal Studios theme park opened in Hollywood in 1965. Since then, Universal Studios has opened parks in 3 different countries, and has 3 new parks upcoming in Moscow, South Korea, and Beijing [12]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
DreamWorks Animation<\/h2>\n
\"dreamworks_animation_skg_logo_with_fishing_boy-svg\"<\/a>
DreamWorks Animation Logo<\/p><\/div>\n
DreamWorks Animation<\/a>, an animation studio based out of Glendale, California, was founded in 1994, by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. The studio is known for its animated talking animal franchises (Shrek, Madagascar), and has 33 feature films that have grossed over $13.48 billion worldwide [13]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, announced its intention to acquire DreamWorks Animation (DWA) in April 2016. By August 2016, NBCUniversal has successfully acquired DWA for $3.8 billion. DWA is now a division of Universal Studios [14]<\/a>.
\nAfter the acquisition, Universal Studios was supposed to take over distribution for all of DreamWorks Animations’s films, however, DWA had signed a 5-year deal with 20th Century Fox, and intends to honor the deal until the end of the contract, with the film Captain Underpants<\/a><\/em>. Universal will take over distribution in February 2018, beginning with the Margot Robbie and Hugh Jackman starrer, Larrikins<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n
DreamWorks Animation owns a themed land in the Dreamworld amusement park in Gold Coast, Australia, where they offer the DreamWorks Experience, which contains three distinct areas based on their most popular film franchises- Shrek, Madagascar, and Kung Fu Panda. Each area includes rides and attractions for people of all ages. DreamWorks Animation also has a deal with the Royal Caribbean Cruiseline, and announced in 2010 that the DreamWorks Experience would be offered as part of the cruises.
\nDreamWorks Animation has a list of movies scheduled to release in the next few years, each one anticipated to receive positive reviews and do well in the box office. The movies include How To Train Your Dragon 3<\/em><\/a>, Shrek 5<\/em>,<\/a> and The<\/em>\u00a0Boss Baby<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n