Steve Burke‘s previous deal, made in late 2009, was due to expire at the end of 2014. Now it will run through August 2018, with an 18% increase in his base salary to $2.6M while his annual cash bonus opportunity stays at 300% of his base salary, the company says in an SEC filing. Burke also secured a $5M performance-based bonus described as an “inducement” for him to stay and “on account of Mr. Burke’s outstanding work in integrating NBCUniversal and its businesses into Comcast, and making extraordinary progress in improving its businesses and results.” But the bonus is contingent on him remaining at the company for 13 months — and if Comcast’s operating cash flow for the year ending in June 2014 is at least 101% what it was the previous year. Last year Burke’s compensation package came to $26.3M including $2.2M salary, $4.3M in stock awards, $4.7M in option awards, $7.2M in non-equity incentives, $5.3M increased value of pension value, and $2.6M in other compensation.
Comcast Extends NBCU Chief Steve Burke’s Contract To 2018
Brian Roberts Joins President For Golf
The Comcast CEO teamed up with World Bank President Jim Kim and former U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk in a game with President Obama today at the Vineyard Golf Club on Martha’s Vineyard, according to the White … Read More »
Comcast Beats Q2 Earnings Forecasts With Help From NBCU
The cable systems drive the big numbers for Comcast. But the entertainment operations contributed to the strong results in Q2, including an uptick at Universal which benefited from the success of Fast And Furious 6. The media giant reported net income of $1.74B, +28.6% vs the period last year, on revenues of $16.3B, +7%. The revenue number topped expectations for $16.0B. Earnings at 65 cents a share also beat the 63 cents that analysts anticipated. The NBCUniversal operations contributed $6B in revenue, +8.9%, but the filmed entertainment and cable network operations helped to power a 21.3% gain in operating cash flow to $1.2B. The cable nets saw ad sales rise 5.7% while distribution revenues were up 4.4% — leading to a 7.7% increase in revenues to $2.4B and an 8.9% improvement in operating cash flow to $860M. NBC’s broadcast operations also improved with a 13% pickup in ad sales and rising fees from retransmission consent deals. It wound up with $1.7B in revenues, +11.6%, and operating cash flow of $206M, +6.4%. Filmed entertainment joined in with $1.4B in revenues, +12.8%, and operating cash flow of $33M — up from last year’s $83M loss. But the theme parks struggled financially in a quarter without much help from the Easter holiday, which contributed more to Q1 this year, and as the company increased spending to improve attractions. The unit generated $546M in revenue, +1.1%, while operating cash flow fell 1.6% to $231M. Meanwhile, at the core cable business, Comcast ended the quarter with 21.8M video customers, down 176,000 — which compares to the 159,000 sub loss in the quarter last year. With help from rate hikes and high-speed internet services, though, the systems generated $10.5B in revenue, +5.8%, with operating cash flow of $4.3B, +5.7%. Read More »
Brian Roberts Agrees To Run Comcast For Another Year
Is anyone surprised? The Comcast CEO controls a third of the voting shares in the company that his father created, and that he has led for more than a decade. Still the company says in an SEC filing that … Read More »
TOLDJA! Legendary Moves To NBCU With Multiyear Film And TV Deal
As Deadline’s Nikki Finke reported on July 6, Legendary Entertainment has set up a new partnership with NBCUniversal. While nothing formal has been announced, sources say the multiyear film/television financial, distribution, marketing, and production deal will start … Read More »
Ryan Seacrest To Host Yet Another Non-Scripted Live Show: NBC’s ‘Million Second Quiz’
The Ryan Seacrest Overexposure March continues, with the press in hot pursuit. His latest pit stop: Seacrest is this close to signing a deal to host NBC’s new reality series Million Second Quiz. To recap: … Read More »
Guggenheim Digital Media Out Of Hulu Bidding: Report
Now there are two: Guggenheim Digital Media and KKR have dropped out of the bidding for the video streaming service, CNBC reports from the Allen & Co. conference that draws hundreds of moguls each year to Sun Valley, … Read More »
Legendary “Likely” To Select NBCU This Week For Big New Showbiz Partnership
EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that Legendary Entertainment‘s Thomas Tull could announce his selection of a new film/television financial, distribution, marketing, and production partnership as early as this week after kicking tires all over Hollywood. And insiders tell me … Read More »
Comcast Spotlights On-Demand Service With “Summer Of Kids” Initiative
The No. 1 cable company will flood its on-demand menu with children’s shows in July — part of an effort to demonstrate to parents that they don’t have to buy a streaming service from Netflix or Amazon to find programming … Read More »
Legendary- NBCU? Thomas Tull Has Met Twice With Steve Burke But 4 Studios Still In This
EXCLUSIVE: There’s about to be a media frenzy among reporters who don’t know how Hollywood deals work. I’ve learned that Legendary Entertainment boss Thomas Tull is still talking to 4 studios – NBCU, Fox, Sony, and Warner … Read More »
Brian Roberts Vows New Box And Network Features Will Set Pace For Innovation: Cable Show
Cable operators seem to have finally realized that their clunky set-top boxes and user interfaces are hurting them as they increasingly compete with Silicon Valley’s slick-looking TV devices and services. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts used his annual
presentation at The Cable Show, taking place this week in DC, to announce that his company will introduce a set-top box, called XI3, that’s four times faster and three times smaller than conventional boxes — and this fall will roll out an operating system, called X2, that offers “a seamless experience” to navigate a TV set and digital devices. It will provide six guides — for general listings, kids, movies, sports, personalized recommendations, and upcoming shows based on the user’s interests. Movie listings will include Rotten Tomatoes scores and TV shows in the guide will indicate the Twitter buzz measured in tweets per hour. There’ll be a button to call up the last nine channels watched. The company also added features to help about 20% of the population that has a disability. For example, visually impaired people can receive audio feedback telling them what’s going on when they push a button on the remote. The service also will accommodate spoken search commands. Read More »
Court Overturns FCC Order For Comcast To Take Tennis Channel Off Sports Tier
The U.S. Court of Appeals in DC just shot down the FCC’s ruling last year that would have required Comcast to take Tennis Channel off of an extra-fee sports tier so it could compete more equally with the cable giant’s Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network. The FCC said last year that Comcast had used its market power to discriminate against Tennis Channel. But the Appeals Court says that the FCC offered no evidence to refute Comcast’s position that it made a simple financial judgment that few subscribers wanted to watch tennis. When Comcast put the channel on a sports tier “not one customer complained about the change,” the court notes. Indeed the justices say that the FCC had no evidence to demonstrate that broader distribution of Tennis Channel “offered Comcast any commercial benefit.” Comcast says that Tennis Channel agreed to be on a sports tier when it negotiated its carriage agreement in 2005. “Tennis Channel received exactly the carriage it bargained for and agreed to,” says Comcast VP Government Communications Sena Fitzmaurice. Read More »
NBC Execs Say Corporate Synergy And Olympics Will Help Shows Next Season
NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert told advertisers today that the 2013-14 season “will be better than this season” as NBCUniversal “speaks to our customers with unity, clarity and precision….… Read More »
Comcast Cable Names New CFO
PHILADELPHIA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), a global media and technology company, announced today that it has promoted Cathy Avgiris to Chief Financial Officer of Comcast Cable, effective July 1, 2013. Ms. Avgiris, a 21-year Comcast veteran, will report to Neil Smit, President and Chief Executive Officer, Comcast Cable. She succeeds Dave Scott, who is retiring after twenty years with the Company. Ms. Avgiris has been instrumental in the growth and development of Comcast for more than twenty years. In her current role as Executive Vice President and General Manager, Communications and Data Services, Ms. Avgiris leads Comcast’s XFINITY Internet, XFINITY Voice and consumer wireless business.
Comcast Beats Q1 Earnings Forecasts With Help From NBCU Cable Networks
Here’s yet another mixed-bag Big Media report on this unusually busy morning, although the 2% pre-market jump in Comcast‘s shares suggests that the earnings growth here is especially impressive. The cable and entertainment colossus generated $1.65B in net income in Q1, +13.7% vs the period last year, on revenues of $15.3B, +2.9%. Analysts thought that revenues would come in a little higher, at $15.4B. But earnings of 54 cents a share beat forecasts for 50 cents. NBCUniversal did its part, with operating cash flow +17.2% to $953M — despite a 2.4% drop in revenues to $5.34B. (It would have been up 2.4% if you factor out last year’s $259M from NBC’s Super Bowl coverage.) Cable network revenue was +4.6% to $2.2B with operating cash flow +6.2% to $859M. Comcast says that affiliate fees were up 8.6% while ad price increases offset lower ratings to raise sales 2.5%. The story’s drearier at the broadcast operation: Its operating loss increased to $35M from $14M last year while revenues fell 18.5% to $1.5B. (The drop would be just 5.3% without last year’s Super Bowl.) The main culprits, the company says, were “lower primetime ratings at the NBC broadcast network and lower content licensing revenue.” In Filmed Entertainment, the company says that Les Miserables helped to propel revenues +2% to $1.2B with operating cash flow up to $69M from $6M in the period last year. Theme Parks also performed with revenues +12.2% to $462M and operating cash flow +10.3% to $173M. CEO Brian Roberts says that following his company’s acquisition of General Electric’s stake in NBCU it will “drive innovation and operational excellence to deliver superior entertainment and communications choices for consumers.” Read More »
Comcast Adds Outdoor Channel To Its Streaming And VOD Line-Up
TEMECULA, Calif., April 22, 2013 — Outdoor Channel, America’s Leader In Outdoor TV, today announced a multi-year distribution agreement with XFINITY TV from Comcast, making the network’s array of outdoor lifestyle entertainment accessible for multi-platform viewing by XFINITY TV customers across the U.S.
Effective immediately, the agreement will broaden the Outdoor Channel viewing experience by offering its popular roster of programming on XFINITY On Demand, online at xfinity.com/tv and through the XFINITY TV Player app. The network’s shows capture the excitement of the great outdoors through the eyes of esteemed hunting, fishing and shooting talent, alongside world-renowned actors, musicians and athletes. Among the hit programs are: “Bottom Feeders,” “King of the Spring,” “Jack Link’s Major League Fishing,” “Buck Commander protected by Under Armour,” “Bone Collector” and “The Crush with Lee and Tiffany.”
Comcast’s Brian Roberts Made $29.1M In 2012, +8.1%
NBCUniversal has its woes, but Comcast execs have little reason to complain about their personal incomes for 2012. CEO Brian Roberts — who controls a third of the voting shares — received a nice bump in pay in a year when Comcast stock appreciated 54%. His package includes $2.8M salary, $4.8M in stock awards, $4.8M in option awards, $9M in non-equity incentives, $4M change in pension value, and $3.7M in other compensation according to the proxy filed at the SEC this afternoon. About $3.3M from the “other” category represents deferred compensation. At least Roberts spread the wealth among his colleagues. His pay amounted to 1.4 times the median for Comcast’s four other top execs, which shouldn’t alarm corporate governance activists who become concerned when the CEO makes more than 3 times the average for other top execs named in the proxy. NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke ended up with $26.3M, +11.3%. Read More »
Comcast Backed By Supreme Court On Antitrust Lawsuit
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in favor of the cable provider, saying an $875 million antitrust lawsuit filed on behalf of many as 2 million Philadelphia-area customers could not proceed as a single class-action suit. In a … Read More »
Comcast Completes Acquisition Of GE’s 49% Stake In NBCUniversal
General Electric is out of the NBCUniversal business. Comcast today closed its $16.7B deal to buy the 49% of the entertainment company that GE continued to own after the companies formed a joint venture in … Read More »
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