Tag Archives: Ralph Roberts

NBCUniversal

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By: Chelsea DeCesare

History

The story of NBCUniversal goes back more than a century and involves the dreams of two visionary entrepreneurs, David Sarnoff, who founded NBC, and Carl Laemmle, who created Universal.

Carl Laemmle

NBCUniversal was formed in 2004 when NBC and Universal merged to create a media powerhouse co-owned by General Electric and Vivendi. With the company’s acquisition by Comcast in 2009, a third visionary entrepreneur, Ralph J. Roberts, joined the sides of   Sarnoff and Laemmle as a key figure in the annals of the company. Roberts started Comcast in 1963, after he bought a tiny cable system in Tupelo, Mississippi, setting in motion a remarkable American business success story.

Ralph J Roberts

Ralph J Roberts

All three companies were founded by men of modest backgrounds who were propelled by their visions of a new industry—movies, television, and cable distribution—and enthusiastic about the possibilities they represented for economic growth for the betterment of the community and people around them. Laemmle, Sarnoff, and Roberts dedicated themselves to turning their visions into the reality that represents Comcast and NBCUniversal in the present day.

comcast-logo-blackDavid Sarnoff was a radio visionary who through his work with RCA helped to make NBCUniversal into what it is today. In 1916, Sarnoff was a young Russian immigrant living in New York City. One day, he wrote a memo to his manager at the American Marconi Wireless Telegraph Co. in New York City. In his “Radio Music Box” memo, Sarnoff imagined a world connected by wireless communication that would bring information and entertainment into the home. This audacious vision would become reality in 1926 with the first broadcast of the National Broadcasting Company.

David Sarnoff

Through the remainder of the twentieth century, these two companies, Universal Studios and NBC, would create extraordinary legacies of accomplishment in the exciting new worlds of motion picture production and distribution, location-based entertainment, and radio and television production and broadcasting.

On May 12, 2004, the parallel histories of the two companies converged, in the creation of a powerful new media entity, NBCUniversal. [1]

Parent Company

In December of 2009, the largest cable operator in the U.S, Comcast,  announced an agreement to acquire NBCUniversal from General Electric.

The deal valued NBCUniversal at around $30 billion, and has Comcast owning 51 percent and General Electric owning 49 percent of the NBCUniversal corporation. Comcast will contribute its own offering of cable channels, worth about $7.25 billion, and will pay General Electric about $6.5 billion in cash, for a total of $13.75 billion.

imagesOn January 18, 2011, the FCC and the United States Department of Justice officially approved the merger. [2]

Company Leaders

Stephen B. Burke Chief Executive Officer, NBCUniversal

Steve Burke oversees the company’s valuable portfolio of news, sports, and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group, and world-renowned theme parks.

Burke assumed this role in January 2011, upon the closing of Comcast and General Electric’s joint venture merging the assets of NBC Universal with Comcast’s programming assets.

He previously served as Chief Operating Officer of Comcast Corporation, where he was a driving force in its growth from a cable industry leader to one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communication products and services. [3]

Matt_Bond_3x4-162x216Matt Bond, Executive Vice President, Content Distribution, NBCUniversal

Bond is responsible for overseeing the strategic direction of the company’s content portfolio, and managing the distribution relationships for NBCUniversal cable channels, owned-and-operated televisions stations, and other licensing responsibilities.

Prior to this, Matt held the position of Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition for Comcast, overseeing the company’s content acquisition efforts including the negotiation of programming agreements for cable systems serving more than 24 million customers.  Bond also led content acquisition for new media rights and strategic multiplatform initiatives, including On Demand Online. [4]

CROPPED_PAT1Patricia Fili-Krushel,Chairman, NBCUniversal News Group, NBCUniversal

Patricia Fili-Krushel serves as Chairman of NBCUniversal News Group, the most influential and respected portfolio of on-air and digital news properties in the world, reaching more than 120M viewers each month.  She reports directly to Steve Burke, CEO of NBC Universal.

The News Group includes such assets as NBC News, MSNBC, CNBC and the Weather Channel as well as digital platforms including NBC News Digital, MSNBC.com and CNBC.com.

Previously, Ms. Fili-Krushel was Executive Vice President of NBC Universal with a broad portfolio of functions reporting to her, including Operations and Technical Services, Business Strategy, Human Resources and Legal. [5]

BobGreenblatt1Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment

Robert Greenblatt joined NBC Universal in January 2011 as Chairman, NBC Entertainment and reports to Steve Burke.  In this role, he is responsible for all aspects of prime time and late night programming, business affairs, West Coast research, marketing, public relations and scheduling for NBC and also oversees Universal Media Studios. [6]

Subsidiaries

nbcuniversal

 

Universal Pictures

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  • Focus Features
  • Working Title Films
  • Universal Studios Home Entertainment
  • Universal Animation Studios
  • Illumination Entertainment [7]
NBC Universal Cable
nbc-universal-will-lay-off-500-employees-due-to-budget-cut

 

Cable Network  

Approximate U.S.
Subscribers at
December 31, 2011

(in millions) (a)

     Description of Programming
USA Network     99       General entertainment
Syfy     98       Imagination-based entertainment
E!     98       Entertainment and pop culture
CNBC     97       Business and financial news
MSNBC     95       24 hour news
Bravo     95       Entertainment, culture and arts
Golf Channel     85       Golf competition and golf entertainment
Oxygen     78       Women’s interests
NBC Sports Network (formerly VERSUS)     76       Sports
Style     76       Lifestyle
G4     61       Gamer lifestyle
Chiller     42       Horror and suspense
CNBC World     40       Global financial news
Cloo (formerly Sleuth)     39       Crime, mystery and suspense
Universal HD     25       HD, general entertainment programming

[9]

NBC Sports Group

 

NBC-Sports

  • Comcast Sports Group
  • Golf Channel
  • NBC Sports
  • NBC Sports Digital Network [10]

Entertainment and Digital Networks and Integrated Media

BRAVO_MEDIA_4c-750040

  • Bravo Media
  • Oxygen Media
  • Style Media
  • Telemundo
  • mun2
  • PBS Kids Sprout
  • TVOne [11]

NBC Universal News Group

r-NBC-NEWS-large570

  • NBC News
  • CNBC
  • MSNBC
  • The Weather Channel [12]

 

Local Television News Stations

DMA Served (a)   Station    General Market  Rank (b)      Percentage of U.S.
Television Households (d) 		 
New York, NY   WNBC      1         7 % 
Los Angeles, CA   KNBC      2         5 % 
Chicago, IL   WMAQ      3         3 % 
Philadelphia, PA   WCAU      4         3 % 
Dallas-Fort Worth, TX   KXAS (c)      5         2 % 
San Francisco-Oakland-San Jose, CA   KNTV      6         2 % 
Washington, D.C.   WRC      8         2 % 
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL   WTVJ      16         1 % 
San Diego, CA   KNSD (c)      28         1 % 
Hartford, CT   WVIT      30         1 % 

[13]

Parks and Resorts

UniversalThemeParks_logo

  • Universal Orlando Resort
  • Universal Studios Hollywood
  • Universal Studios Japan
  • Universal Studios Singapore [14]

Digital Media

 

hulu

2013 Programming

RFL_KA_hoz_72dpi-570x3202013 Winter/Spring Series Premieres:
— New Drama “Deception” January 7
— New Comedy “1600 Penn” January 10
— New Relationship Series “Ready for Love”  March 31

Anticipated Returns:
–“The Voice”  March 25/26
–“Revolution” March 25
–“The Biggest Loser” January 6/7
–“Smash” February 5
–“Community” February 7
–“The Celebrity Apprentice” March 3
–“Betty White’s Off Their Rockers” January 8  [16]

 

Sources:

1.) NBC Universal History                                                                   http://www.nbcuni.com/corporate/about-us/history/

2.) Atlantic Magazine, “Comcast Buys GE Stake in NBCUniversal, Completing the ’30 Rock’ Prophecy.”                                                                                     http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/02/comcast-buys-ge-stake-nbcuniversal-completing-30-rock-prophecy/62069/

3.) NBC Universal Senior Corporate Executives: Stephen B. Burke    http://www.nbcuni.com/corporate/management/senior-corporate-executives/nbc-universal/stephen-b-burke/

4.) NBC Universal Senior Corporate Executives: Matt Bond                  http://www.nbcuni.com/corporate/management/senior-corporate-executives/nbc-universal/matt-bond/

5.) NBC Universal Senior Corporate Executives: Patricia Fili-Krushel  http://www.nbcuni.com/corporate/management/senior-corporate-executives/nbc-universal/patricia-fili-krushel/

6.) NBC Universal Senior Corporate Executives: Robert Greenblatt          http://www.nbcuni.com/corporate/management/senior-corporate-executives/nbc-entertainment/robert-greenblatt/

7.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast Corporation http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

8.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast Corporationhttp://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

9.) NBC Universal Annual Shareholder’s Report                                                 http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=cmcsa&docid=8430852

10.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast Corporation http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

11.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast Corporation http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

12.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast Corporation http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

13.) NBC Universal Annual Shareholder’s Report                       http://apps.shareholder.com/sec/viewerContent.aspx?companyid=cmcsa&docid=8430852

14.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast                    http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

15.) Columbia Journalism Review: Who Owns What, Comcast                  http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=comcast

16.) NBC Reveals Changes for Mid-Season 2013                                  http://www.nbc.com/news/2012/10/30/nbc-reveals-changes-for-mid-season-2013/