History of Comcast Cable
Comcast Cable was originally formed as American Cable Systems in 1963 and was founded by Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel Aaron, and Julian A. Brodsky based on a recommendation from Pete Musser, who brought the deal to Ralph Roberts to buy his first cable system in Tupelo, Mississippi. The company was incorporated in Pennsylvania in 1969, under the new name Comcast Corporation.
The name “Comcast” is a portmanteau of the words “Communication” and “Broadcast”. Over a number of years, Comcast became majority owner of Spectacor (renamed to Comcast Spectacor), Comcast SportsNet (in Chicago, Michigan, Philadelphia, Washington DC/Baltimore, New England, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest and metro Sacramento), as well as E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network (formerly the Outdoor Life Network, then Versus). In 2006, Comcast started a new sports channel SportsNet New York in the greater New York City region, in partnership with the New York Mets and Time Warner Cable.
Company Insight: Comcast
JSTN profiles Comcast. Comcast was founded in 1963 as a single-system cable operation. Today, were the countrys largest provider of cable services – and one of the worlds leading communications companies. Were focused on broadband cable, commerce, and content. We deliver digital services, provide faster Internet and clearer broadband phone service, and develop and deliver innovative programming.
History
Over a number of years, Comcast became majority owner of Spectacor (renamed to Comcast Spectacor), Comcast SportsNet (in Chicago, Michigan, Philadelphia, Washington DC/Baltimore, New England, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest and metro Sacramento), as well as E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and NBC Sports Network (formerly the Outdoor Life Network, then Versus). In 2006, Comcast started a new sports channel—SportsNet New York—in the greater New York City region, in partnership with the New York Mets and Time Warner Cable.
Comcast also has a variety network known as Comcast Network, available exclusively to Comcast and Cablevision subscribers. The channel shows news, sports, and entertainment and places emphasis in Philadelphia and the Baltimore/Washington, D.C. areas, though the channel is also available in New York, Pittsburgh, and Richmond. In August 2004, Comcast started a channel called CET (Comcast Entertainment Television), available only to Colorado Comcast subscribers, and focusing on life in Colorado. It also carries some National Hockey League (NHL) and National Basketball Association (NBA) games when Altitude Sports & Entertainment is carrying the NHL or NBA. In January 2006, CET became the primary channel for Colorado’s Emergency Alert System in the Denver Metro Area.
In 1996, Comcast launched Comcast Online, a broadband Internet service. Comcast purchased Sarasota Online, then one of the largest Internet providers in Florida and owned by entrepreneur Richard Swier and quickly expanded Internet service into over 30 cities. Comcast’s Internet service has 18.582 million customers as of March 30, 2012.
The UK division was sold to NTL in 1998. After the sale of their cellular division to SBC Communications of San Antonio and the acquisition of Greater Philadelphia Cablevision in 1999, Comcast and MediaOne announced a $60 billion merger which did not occur until three years later (as AT&T Broadband). In addition, Comcast rebranded around that time and began to employ the logo that was used for over a decade.
In 2002, Comcast paid the University of Maryland $25 million for naming rights to the new basketball arena built on the College Park campus, named Comcast Center.
On January 3, 2005, Comcast announced that it would become the anchor tenant in a new skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia.
