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Comcast Corporation
Type	Public (NASDAQ: CMCSA)
Founded	1963 in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Key people	Brian L. Roberts CEO & Chairman
Industry	Telecommunications
Products	Cable Television, Broadband Internet, Comcast Digital Voice, Home Networking
Revenue	▲$24.97 Billion USD (2007)
Net income	▲$2.53 Billion USD (2007)
Employees	87,000
Website	www.comcast.com

Philadelphia Portal

Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is the largest cable television company and the second largest Internet service provider in the United States.^[1][2][3] Image File history File links Comcast_Logo. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City. ... Tupelo (IPA: [tu:pÉ™lo]) is the largest city and county seat within Lee County, Mississippi. ... Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... Brian L. Roberts is Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, one of the United States of Americas leading providers of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. ... Copy of the original phone of Alexander Graham Bell at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris Telecommunication is the assisted transmission of signals over a distance for the purpose of communication. ... Cable TV redirects here. ... Broadband Internet access, often shortened to broadband Internet or just broadband is a high data-transmission rate Internet connection. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... For the tax agency in Ireland of the same name, see Revenue Commissioners. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... Net income is equal to the income that a firm has after subtracting costs and expenses from the total revenue. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... This article is about work. ... A website (alternatively, web site or Web site) is a collection of Web pages, images, videos or other digital assets that is hosted on one or more web servers, usually accessible via the Internet. ... Image File history File links Portal. ... NASDAQ in Times Square, New York City. ... Cable TV redirects here. ... “ISP” redirects here. ...

History

Comcast was founded in 1963 by Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel Aaron, and Julian A. Brodsky based on a recommendation from Warren "Pete" Musser, of Harrisburg, 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 name Comcast Corporation from American Cable Systems, though a former insider says that "Comcast" is a derivation of the name "Communications and Broadcasting". Moving into the area of programming content, Comcast became majority owner of Comcast-Spectacor, Comcast SportsNet (in Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Washington DC/Baltimore, MD, the San Francisco Bay Area, the Pacific Northwest and metro Sacramento), E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, G4, The Golf Channel and Versus (formerly known as Outdoor Life Network) over a period of years. In 2006, Comcast started a new sports channel in cooperation with Major League Baseball's New York Mets, SportsNet New York in the greater New York City region. Ralph J. Roberts (born 1925) is the co-founder of Comcast Communications and has been its Chief Executive Officer for 40 years. ... Harrisburg is the name of many places in the United States of America: Harrisburg, Arkansas Harrisburg, Illinois Harrisburg, Missouri Harrisburg, Nebraska Harrisburg, New York Town in Lewis County Hamlet in Cattaraugus County Hamlet in Warren County Harrisburg, North Carolina Harrisburg, Ohio Harrisburg, Oregon Harrisburg, Pennsylvania (Pennsylvania state capital and near... Tupelo (IPA: [tu:pəlo]) is the largest city and county seat within Lee County, Mississippi. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Comcast-Spectacor is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania based sports and entertainment company. ... Comcast SportsNet (or CSN) is a group of regional sports networks. ... CSN Chicago is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Chicago area. ... Comcast Local (also known as CL) is a regional sports network that carries collegiate, prep, and minor league sports from the Detroit area and throughout Michigan. ... CSN Philadelphia is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Philadelphia area. ... CSN Mid-Atlantic is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. ... CSN Northwest will be a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Northwest US areas. ... CSN West is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in Northern California. ... E!: Entertainment Television is an American cable television and direct broadcast satellite network. ... The Style Network is an American cable television network based in Los Angeles, California. ... G4 is an American cable and satellite television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12–34, devoted to the world of video games and the video game lifestyle. ... The Golf Channel, sometimes abbreviated as TGC, is an American cable television network with coverage focused on the game of golf. ... Versus (previously known as OLN until a name change on September 25, 2006) is a cable television sports channel owned by Comcast and shown in the United States. ... Major Leagues redirects here. ... Major league affiliations National League (1962–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 14, 37, 41, 42, Shea Name New York Mets (1962–present) Other nicknames The Amazin Mets, The Amazins, The Metropolitans, The Kings of Queens Ballpark Shea Stadium (1964-present) Polo Grounds (1962–1963) Major league... SportsNet New York (SNY) is a New York City-based sports cable network which airs in the New York metro area and all of New York state, and nationwide via satellite. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ...

Comcast also has a variety network known as CN8, or the Comcast Network, available exclusively to Comcast and Cablevision subscribers. The channel shows news, sports, and entertainment and places emphasis in Philadelphia, New England, 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). It is only available to Colorado Comcast subscribers. It focuses on Life in Colorado. It also carries some NHL & NBA Games when Altitude Sports & Entertainment is carrying the NBA or NHL. In January 2006, CET became the primary channel for Colorado's Emergency Alert System in the Denver Metro Area. The Comcast Network (also known as CN8) is a cable television station that is transmitted from Maine to Virginia on Comcast cable systems. ... For other uses, see Cablevision (disambiguation). ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... Pittsburgh redirects here. ... Nickname: Motto: Sic Itur Ad Astra (Thus do we reach the stars) Location in the Commonwealth of Virginia Coordinates: , Country State Government  - Mayor L. Douglas Wilder (I) Area  - City 62. ...

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). It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Virgin Media, Telewest and Virgin. ... This article is about the current AT&T. For the 1885-2005 company, see American Telephone & Telegraph. ... The Alamo in San Antonio San Antonio is a city in the U.S. state of Texas. ... MediaOne was a cable TV company that was formed in the wake of the 1996 merger between Continental Cablevision and US West Media Group. ... Acquisition redirects here. ... AT&T Broadband was the name of AT&Ts cable operations, which comprised of the assets of TCI and MediaOne. ...

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. The University of Maryland, College Park (also known as UM, UMD, or UMCP) is a public university located in the city of College Park, in Prince Georges County, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C., in the United States. ... Naming rights are the right to name a piece of property, either tangible property or an event, usually granted in exchange for financial considerations. ... This article is about the sport. ... This article is about the arena. ...

On January 3, 2005, Comcast announced that it would become the anchor tenant in a new skyscraper in downtown Philadelphia, to be named the Comcast Center, not to be confused with the Maryland arena mentioned above. The 975 ft (297 m) skyscraper is officially the tallest building in Pennsylvania. is the 3rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the arena in College Park, Maryland, see Comcast Center (arena). ... For other uses, see Skyscraper (disambiguation). ...

In December 2005, Comcast announced the creation of Comcast Interactive Media (CIM), a new division focused on online media. Comcast Interactive Media (CIM) is a division of Comcast focusing on online media. ...

Presently, Comcast serves a total of 24.2 million cable customers, 14.7 million digital cable customers, 12.9 million high-speed internet customers, and 4.1 million voice customers. The company employs over 90,000 people. Comcast is headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and also has corporate offices in Houston, Detroit, Denver,and Manchester, NH.^[4] Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... Houston redirects here. ... Detroit redirects here. ... Nickname: Location of Denver in the State of Colorado Location of Colorado in the United States Coordinates: , Country United States State State of Colorado City and County Denver[1] Founded 1858-11-22, as Denver City, K.T.[2] Incorporated 1861-11-07, as Denver City, C.T.[3] Consolidated... Manchester is the largest city in New Hampshire and the largest city of northern New England, an area composed of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. ...

Acquisitions

Further information: List of assets owned by Comcast

Comcast bought 25% of Group W Cable in 1986, doubling its size. Two years later, it purchased a 50% share in Storer Communications, Inc. Comcast acquired American Cellular Network Corporation the same year before combining with Metrophone in 1990. Comcast became the third largest cable operator in 1994 following its purchase of Maclean-Hunter's American division. Comcast owned the majority of the electronic retailer QVC from 1995-2004 when its share was sold to Liberty Media. Following other acquisitions, Microsoft invested $1 billion in Comcast in 1997. List of assets owned by Comcast // Cable Comcast Cable Communications, LLC Midcontinent Communications (50%) Programming CN8 - The Comcast Network Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Philadelphia Chicago West Comcast Sports Southeast (in part with Charter Communications) [1] E! Networks (60% shared with Disney) E! Entertainment Style Network The Golf Channel International Networks... Maclean-Hunter was a Canadian communications company, which had diversified holdings in radio, television, magazines, newspapers and cable television distribution. ... QVC is a West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA, multinational corporation, specialising in televised home shopping. ... The Liberty Media Corporation is an American media conglomerate. ... Microsoft Corporation, (NASDAQ: MSFT, HKSE: 4338) is a multinational computer technology corporation with global annual revenue of US$44. ...

In 2001, Comcast announced it would acquire the assets of the largest cable television operator at the time, AT&T Broadband (AT&T's spun-off cable TV service) for $44.5 billion USD. In 2002, Comcast acquired all assets of AT&T Broadband, thus making Comcast the largest cable television company in the United States with over 22 million subscribers. This also spurred the start of Comcast Advertising Sales (using AT&T's groundwork) which would later be renamed Comcast Spotlight. As part of this acquisition, Comcast also acquired the National Digital Television Center in Centennial, CO as a wholly-owned subsidiary, which is today known as the Comcast Media Center. AT&T Broadband was the name of AT&Ts cable operations, which comprised of the assets of TCI and MediaOne. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ... Comcast Spotlight Logo Comcast Spotlight is the advertising sales division of Comcast Cable. ... Official language(s) English Demonym Coloradan Capital Denver Largest city Denver Largest metro area Denver-Aurora Metro Area Area  Ranked 8th in the US  - Total 104,185 sq mi (269,837 km²)  - Width 280 miles (451 km)  - Length 380 miles (612 km)  - % water 0. ...

Proposed merger name logo, 2001

When it was first announced that AT&T Broadband and Comcast were going to merge, the chosen name for the new company was "AT&T Comcast". That decision was changed so as to not confuse current and future investors in the company, and the merged company retained the Comcast name. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

On February 11, 2004, Comcast surprised the media industry by announcing an unsolicited $66 billion bid for The Walt Disney Company, a deal that would have made Comcast the largest media conglomerate in the world. After rejection by Disney and uncertain response from investors, the bid was abandoned in April. It was later discovered that the deal was mostly for Comcast to acquire one of Disney's most profitable operations, ESPN, in an attempt to expand its sports reach. Comcast has since opted to expand OLN's sports coverage with the Tour de France and the NHL, and in the process renaming the network in the United States Versus. Comcast's NHL deal also obligated them to launch a U.S. version of NHL Network by the summer of 2007. The network finally launched in October 2007.^{[citation needed]} is the 42nd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Disney redirects here. ... This does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... ESPN, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ... For other uses, see Tour de France (disambiguation). ... NHL redirects here. ... NHL Network is a Canadian category 2 digital cable television channel devoted to hockey from the past and the present. ...

Comcast announced on March 25, 2004 that its new gaming-oriented television network G4 (operated by subsidiary G4 Media, Inc.) would acquire Vulcan Venture's technology-oriented television network TechTV. The deal was finalized on May 10, 2004 - and the two networks became G4techTV on May 28, 2004. On January 11, 2005, Comcast announced that it would drop TechTV from the station's name and again be known as "G4". is the 84th day of the year (85th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... G4 is an American cable and satellite television channel originally geared toward male viewers aged 12–34, devoted to the world of video games and the video game lifestyle. ... Vulcan Inc. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... TechTV is also the name of a closed-circuit television network based in Ruston, Louisiana TechTV (May 11, 1998 – May 28, 2004) was a 24-hour cable and satellite channel based in San Francisco, California featuring news and shows about computers, technology, and the Internet. ... is the 130th day of the year (131st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... G4techTV (May 28, 2004 – February 15, 2005) was a cable and satellite channel resulting from a merger between Comcast-owned G4 and TechTV. The headquarters were based in Los Angeles. ... is the 148th day of the year (149th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 11th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

On April 8, 2005, a partnership led by Comcast and Sony Pictures Entertainment finalized a deal to acquire MGM and its affiliate studio, United Artists, and create an additional outlet to carry MGM/UA's material for cable and Internet distribution. is the 98th day of the year (99th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sony Pictures Entertainment, Inc. ... For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ... This article is about the film studio. ...

On October 31, 2005, Comcast officially announced that it had acquired Susquehanna Communications (SusCom,) a York, PA-based cable television and broadband services provider and unit of the former Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff company, for a net cash investment of approximately $540 million. In this deal Comcast acquired approximately 230,000 basic cable customers, 71,000 digital cable customers, and 86,000 high-speed Internet customers. Comcast previously owned approximately 30 percent of Susquehanna Communications. is the 304th day of the year (305th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... York Community Access Television (YCAT) was a public access television station in York, Pennsylvania. ... Motto: Nickname: Map Political Statistics Founded Incorporated Borough:September 24, 1787 City:January 11, 1887 York County Mayor John Brenner Geographic Statistics Area  - Total  - Land  - Water 13. ... The Susquehanna Pfaltzgraff Company is a conglomerate of companies that started in the 19th century with Johann George Pfaltzgraffs emigration from Germany to York, Pennsylvania (in the Susquehanna Valley). ...

On April 3, 2007, Comcast announced it had entered into an agreement to acquire the cable systems owned and operated by Patriot Media, a privately-held company owned by cable veteran Steven J. Simmons, Spectrum Equity Investors and Spire Capital, that serves approximately 81,000 video subscribers. Comcast will acquire Patriot for a net cash investment of approximately $483 million.^[5] By acquiring the niche provider the deal will plug a hole in its central New Jersey service.^[6] is the 93rd day of the year (94th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

Adelphia purchase

In April 2005 Comcast and Time Warner announced plans to buy Adelphia Cable. $17.6 billion was to be paid (partly in stock) in the deal that was finalized in the second quarter of 2006 — after the FCC completed a seven-month investigation without raising an objection. Time Warner would become the second largest cable provider in the U.S., ranking behind Comcast. As part of the same deal, Time Warner and Comcast would also trade existing subscribers to create larger clusters of customers for each company in various geographical areas.^{[citation needed]} Adelphia Communications Corporation, named after the Greek word brothers, was the fifth largest cable company in the United States before filing for bankruptcy in 2002 due to internal corruption. ... FCC redirects here. ... Time Warner Inc. ...

The changes became effective on August 1, 2006. As an example, Comcast's systems in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex were traded to TWC in exchange for Time Warner's North Louisiana market, which covers Shreveport and Monroe. Also, Comcast in Los Angeles Area was traded with TWC. is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex encompasses the metropolitan divisions of Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington, within the U.S. state of Texas. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... : Port City , River City , Ratchet City : The Next Great City of the South United States Louisiana Caddo 117. ... The city of Monroe is the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, in the US state of Louisiana. ...

Also in August 2006, Comcast and Time Warner dissolved a partnership that controlled the systems in the Houston, Southwest Texas, San Antonio, and Kansas City markets. After the dissolution, Comcast obtained the Houston system, and Time Warner retained the others.^[7] On January 1, 2007, Comcast officially took control of the Houston system, but continued to operate under the Time Warner Cable brand in the interim. As of June 19, 2007, the Time Warner name was officially retired and replaced by Comcast. Houston redirects here. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Texas Coordinates: Counties Bexar County Government  - Mayor Phil Hardberger Area  - City  412. ... Kansas City satellite map The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen county metropolitan area is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri straddling the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. ... is the 1st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 170th day of the year (171st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ...

Comcast also took over Adelphia systems in the State College, Pennsylvania area. State College redirects here. ...

In early 2007, Comcast took over Adelphia operations in Palm Beach County, Florida and Bartow, Pickens, Cherokee, and Forsyth Counties in Georgia.^[8]

thePlatform purchase

In July 2006, Comcast purchased the Seattle-based software company thePlatform. This represented an entry into a new line of business - selling software to allow companies to manage their Internet (and IP-based) media publishing efforts. Customers of thePlatform include Verizon Wireless, Scripps, CourtTV, Amp'd Mobile, WLS-TV, ABC7 Chicago and CNBC.^{[citation needed]} thePlatform will also provide media access for Hulu, the joint venture by NBC Universal and News Corporation providing on-demand, ad-supported television programming owned by NBC, Universal Studios, and Fox. WLS-TV abc Disney 7 is an American television station in Chicago, Illinois and thats owned and operated by the abc-TV Network & The Walt Disney Company. ... This article is about CNBC U.S., the business news channel in the U.S.. For other uses, see CNBC (disambiguation). ... NBC Universal is a media and entertainment conglomerate formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electrics NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment, part of Vivendi Universal. ... 1211 Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), where News Corporation is based News Corporation (abbreviated to News Corp) (NYSE: NWS, NYSE: NWSa, ASX: , LSE: NCRA) is an American media conglomerate company and the third worlds largest. ...

High-speed Internet service

Comcast offers downstream speeds of up to 4, 6, 8, or 17.6 Mbit/s and upstream speeds of 1 Mbit/s, or 2 Mbit/s for the 8 Mbit/s downstream package, for standard home connections. In some areas, they are offering 16 Mbit/s downstream and 1 or 2 Mbit/s (125 kB/s) upstream as a more expensive, yet speedier alternative. These differing speed options are made possible by loading a particular configuration file into the modem. Comcast's "PowerBoost" delivers bursts of 12 to 16 Mbit/s downstream and 1 to 2 Mbit/s upstream for the first 10 MB of the download with their 6 and 8 Mbit/s packages, respectively. In April of 2008, Comcast offered a new tier of speed in two cities in Minnesota. The new tier is 50 Mbit/s down and 5 Mbit/s up and uses the new DOCSIS 3.0. This is the first of the 20 percent of Comcast territory to see DOCSIS 3.0. The cost of this new tier is $150.00 per month.^[9] Although, unadvertised, Comcast does offer a reduced connection speed (768kb/384kb) at a lesser price in many areas. According to the Comcast High Speed Internet terms of service, customers are provided with dynamic IP addresses.^[10] Terms of Service (often abbreviated as ToS) are rules by which one must agree to abide by in order to use a service. ...

Comcast has a policy of terminating broadband customers who use "excessive bandwidth," a term the company refuses to define in its terms of service, which say only that a customer's use should not "represent (in the sole judgment of Comcast) an overly large burden on the network."^[10] Company responses to press inquiries suggest a limit of several hundred gigabytes per month.^[11][12] In September 2007, Comcast spokesman Charlie Douglas said the company defines "excessive use" as the equivalent of 30,000 songs, 250,000 pictures or 13 million emails in a month.^[13] Other company statements have said the limit varies from month to month, depending on the capacity of specific cable nodes, and that it affects only the top 1/10th of the top 1 percent of high-speed internet customers.

Controversies

Sports

After the Montreal Expos baseball team relocated to Washington, D.C. to become the Washington Nationals in 2004, Comcast alienated many fans in the area by refusing to add the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN), which airs the team's games, to its channel lineup. In July 2006, as a condition of its approval of Comcast's takeover of a portion of Adelphia's assets, the FCC ordered Comcast to enter into binding arbitration with MASN to settle their dispute. As a result, on August 4, 2006, it was announced that Comcast would carry MASN programming starting in September 2006.^[14] This article describes the now defunct Canadian baseball team. ... Major Leagues redirects here. ... Major league affiliations National League (1969–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 42 Name Washington Nationals (2005–present) Montreal Expos (1969-2004) Other nicknames The Nats Ballpark Nationals Ballpark (2008–present) RFK Stadium 2005-2007 Hiram Bithorn Stadium[3] (San Juan) (2003-2004) Olympic Stadium (Montreal) (1977... Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) is a team-owned regional sports network that televises both Washington Nationals and Baltimore Orioles games in the mid-Atlantic region (Harrisburg, PA to Charlotte, NC) When the Montreal Expos were relocated to Washington, D.C. in 2004, the issue arose regarding television rights for... is the 216th day of the year (217th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

In the Philadelphia region, Comcast uses the FCC's "terrestrial loophole" to avoid negotiations with satellite television services for delivery of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia, which is transmitted via a microwave broadcasting system instead of satellite (as its predecessor, PRISM, was a local-only service). This essentially denies competition in the Philadelphia market for games of the Philadelphia Phillies (baseball), Philadelphia 76ers (basketball), and Philadelphia Flyers (hockey). Comcast does, however, supply Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia programming to Verizon for their competing FiOS video service, even though FiOS is not available to residents of the city of Philadelphia.^{[citation needed]} A smaller controversy arose when Comcast and Cox Communications announced that their systems in Connecticut (outside of Comcast's systems in New Haven, Danbury, and the Northwest Corner — all areas considered to have a sizable number of Mets fans) would not be adding SNY in 2006, if ever, for varying reasons not fully explained. This came to the anger of Mets fans who would need to switch to satellite to watch games due to all of the state being in the Mets' designated territory (thus, games would not be available through MLB Extra Innings, and most ESPN telecasts would be blacked-out). Comcast's purchase of Adelphia's systems in the state and Cox's skeptical eye towards RSN carriage in regards to fan loyalties (also done with YES and NESN in the past) also could be factors. This article is about the type of Electromagnetic radiation. ... Launched in the 70s by Spectacor, PRISM (Philadelphia Regional In-Home Sports and Movies) was a 24-hour premium channel, intended for cable customers in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. ... Major league affiliations National League (1883–present) East Division (1969–present) Current uniform Retired Numbers 1, 14, 20, 32, 36, 42 Name Philadelphia Phillies (1884–present) Philadelphia Quakers (1883-1889) (Also referred to as Blue Jays 1943-1945 despite formal name remaining Phillies) Other nicknames The Phils, The Phightin Phils... This article is about the sport. ... The Philadelphia 76ers (also known as the Sixers for short) are a professional basketball team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... NBA redirects here. ... The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ... NHL redirects here. ... This article or section should include material from Bell Atlantic This article or section should include material from GTE Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) is a local exchange telephone company formed by the merger of Bell Atlantic, a former Bell Operating Company, and GTE, which was the largest independant local exchange... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Cox Communications is a privately owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises providing digital cable television and telecommunications services in the United States. ... This article is about the city in Connecticut. ... Danbury is the name of some places in the United States of America and England: Danbury, Connecticut - by far the largest city with this name Danbury, Essex Danbury, New Hampshire Danbury, North Carolina Danbury, Texas This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise... MLB Extra Innings is an Out-of-Market Sports Package distributed by most cable and satellite providers in North America. ... ESPN, formerly an acronym for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, is an American cable television network dedicated to broadcasting and producing sports-related programming 24 hours a day. ... Adelphia Communications Corporation, named after the Greek word brothers, was the fifth largest cable company in the United States before filing for bankruptcy in 2002 due to internal corruption. ...

Comcast does not offer SportSouth as part of its programming package in the Middle Tennessee area which has effected thousands of Atlanta Braves and college sports fans. Braves fans in the Nashville area are basically left in the dark due to Comcast refusal to add the popular sports channel. The irony is that the channel is offered as part of its programming package in the Knoxville, Memphis and Chattanooga area. This decision is sure to force customers to reconsider a move to DirectTV or Dish Network.

Comcast has not as yet agreed to carry the new Big Ten Network that started broadcasting at the start of the 2007-08 college football season. Under the Big Ten's current television agreement ABC/ESPN has the right to choose which Big Ten conference game to air. Big Ten football games not aired on the regular ABC/ESPN feeds have in recent years been syndicated to local television stations and presented as "ESPN Plus" games. The new Big Ten Network will now have the second choice for conference games. The Big Ten Network is currently being carried via satellite on DirecTV and was recently added to Dish Network as well. The network will also televise each team's basketball games 15-20 times. The Big Ten Network is a television network in the United States launched on August 30, 2007. ... A standard DirecTV satellite dish with 1 LNB on a roof DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service based in El Segundo, California, USA, that was founded in 1994. ... DISH Network is a direct broadcast satellite (DBS) service that provides satellite television, audio programming, and interactive television services to households and businesses in the United States, owned by parent company DISH Network Corporation. ...

According to a March 10, 2008 Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Journal Article, Comcast and The Big Ten Network are close to a deal. A March 11, 2008 Chicago Tribune Article confirmed this report.

Reputation for poor customer satisfaction

There have been many reported incidents with individual customers describing less than satisfying interactions with Comcast's customer services. These include situations with technicians falling asleep on the job,^[15] customers having to spend hours on the phone to fix simple problems, and sending a bill addressed to "Bitch Dog" to a customer who had recently complained about her service.^[16] On October 15, 2007, a 75-year old Comcast customer named Mona Shaw entered her local Comcast offices with a hammer and destroyed some office equipment before being arrested and fined for damages. Mrs. Shaw was angry and frustrated due to a previous encounter with Comcast customer service in which she and her husband wanted to speak with the manager and were forced to wait outside the offices for two hours before being informed that the manager had already gone home.^[17][18] Comcast's customer service quality has prompted several individuals to create blogs and websites dedicated to informing the public of Comcast's service, including media columnist Bob Garfield's website, ComcastMustDie.com,^[19] ComCraptic.com, Comcast Sucks.org, and the online community, FuckComcast.com. is the 288th day of the year (289th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... Bob Garfield writes the Ad Review TV-commercial criticism feature in Advertising Age. ...

In 2004 and 2007, the American Customer Satisfaction Index survey found that Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the Internal Revenue Service.^[20] Comcast's Customer Service Rating by the ACSI surveys indicate that the company's customer service has not improved since the surveys began in 2001. Analysis of the surveys states that "Comcast is one of the lowest scoring companies in ACSI. As its customer satisfaction eroded by 7% over the past year, revenue increased by 12%." The ACSI analysis also addresses this contradiction, stating that "Such pricing power usually comes with some level of monopoly protection and most cable companies have little competition at the local level. This also means that a cable company can do well financially even though its customers are not particularly satisfied."^[21][22] Since 1994, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has been a leading indicator of customer satisfaction, measuring satisfaction across the entire U.S. consumer economy. ...

Within the CABLE TELEVISION NEEDS ASSESSMENT REPORT FOR THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS, COLORADO February 10, 2004^[23] which was required for Comcast's franchise renewal the city's independent consultant found: "Approximately 62% of the respondents, though, were very dissatisfied (along with another 25% who were dissatisfied) with the cost of cable television service." "A majority of the respondents were satisfied with the friendliness and courtesy of customer service personnel. Overall, approximately 43% of the respondents rated the cable company's performance as fair, 30% regarded it as poor and another 30% rated the cable company's performance as good."

Internet Traffic Shaping / Network Neutrality

Comcast has recently implemented traffic shaping measures using Sandvine hardware which sends forged TCP RST (reset) packets, disrupting multiple protocols used by peer-to-peer file sharing networks.^[24] This has prevented some Comcast users from uploading files.^[25] Traffic shaping (also known as packet shaping) is an attempt to control computer network traffic in order to optimize or guarantee performance, low latency, and/or bandwidth by delaying packets[1]. Traffic shaping deals with concepts of classification, queue disciplines, enforcing policies, congestion management, quality of service (QoS), and fairness. ... The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is one of the core protocols of the Internet protocol suite. ... A peer-to-peer (or P2P) computer network is a network that relies on the computing power and bandwidth of the participants in the network rather than concentrating it in a relatively few servers. ... File sharing is the activity of making files available to other users for download over the Internet, but also over smaller networks. ...

On August 17, 2007, TorrentFreak reported that Comcast has been preventing bittorrent users from seeding files.^[26] In October 2007, the Associated Press confirmed the story that indicates that Comcast "actively interferes with attempts by some of its high-speed Internet subscribers to share files online, a move that runs counter to the tradition of treating all types of Net traffic equally."^[27] In November 2007, Comcast's severe limiting of torrent applications was again confirmed by a study conducted by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in which public domain literature is distributed over peer-to-peer networks. Analysis of the EFF study finds "strong evidence that Comcast is using packet-forging to disrupt peer-to-peer (P2P) filesharing on their network".^[28] The studies show that Comcast effectively prevents distribution of files over peer-to-peer networks by sending a RST packet under the guise of the end user, and denying the connection, which effectively blocks the user from seeding over BitTorrent. Legal controversy arises because instead of simple filtering, Comcast is sending RST packets to Comcast customers, pretending to be the host user at the other end of the BitTorrent connection.^[29] Comcast's BitTorrent throttling was revealed to be through a partnership with Sandvine, although Comcast's internal memos instruct employees to respond to the contrary.^[30][31] The Associated Press, or AP, is an American news agency, the worlds largest such organization. ... EFF Logo The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is an international non-profit advocacy and legal organization based in the United States with the stated purpose of being dedicated to preserving free speech rights such as those protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution in the context of... Sandvine Incorporated (TSX: SVC, AIM: SAND), is a networking equipment company based in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ...

There is also evidence of Comcast using RST packets on groupware applications that have nothing to do with file sharing. Kevin Kanarski, who works as a Lotus Notes messaging engineer, noticed some strange behavior with Lotus Notes dropping emails when hooked up to a Comcast connection and has managed to verify that Comcast's reset packets are the culprit.^[32] A lawsuit, Hart v. Comcast, has been filed accusing Comcast of false advertising and other unfair trade practices for allegedly advertising unlimited high-speed internet access while in reality working to restrict their customers' usage of the internet. This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

In 2007, Comcast customers reported a sporadic inability to use Google because forged RST packets are interfering with HTTP access to google.com,^[33] which has further angered users.^[34] This article is about the corporation. ...

In January 2008, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin stated that the FCC is going to investigate complaints that Comcast "actively interferes with Internet traffic as its subscribers try to share files online".^[35] During a February 2008 FCC hearing in Boston, Comcast admitted they paid people to hold seats. The company claimed it was so staffers could attend later, but opponents claimed it was to keep Comcast opponents from attending.^[36] The FCC has stated it expects to rule on the issue by June 30, 2008.^[37] Kevin J. Martin Kevin Jeffrey Martin (born December 14, 1966 in Charlotte, North Carolina, raised in Weddington, North Carolina), is the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission. ... is the 181st day of the year (182nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ...

Comcast and BitTorrent agreed in late March 2008 to work together in a collaborative effort that will leave the network provider to reconfigure its network to manage traffic in a more protocol-agnostic way.^[38] Implementation was projected for late 2008.

Prior to implementation of Comcast's apparent agreements with Bittorrent, Inc., Comcast is reported to be continuing to limit bandwidth available to peer to peer applications. In April of 2008, Comcast proposed a "P2P Bill of Rights and Responsibilities" to address potential copyright infringement by users of peer to peer applications,^[39] but some scholars argue that this is a veiled attempt by Comcast to strengthen its traffic management capability rather than fight copyright infringement.^[40]

Lobbying efforts

Comcast spends millions of dollars annually on government relationships.^[41][42] Regularly Comcast employs the spouses, sons and daughters of influential mayors, councilmen, commissioners, and other officials to assure its continued preferred market allocations.^{[43][44][45][46]}

Comcast strongly lobbies against "a la carte" bills that would give consumers the option to purchase individual channels rather than a broad tier of programming. These issues continue to garner attention from state governments, Congress and FCC Chairman Martin.^[47]

HDTV Claim and Quality

In many Comcast markets, new HD channels such as SciFi Channel, USA Network and Animal Planet were added in early 2008. Comcast has started transmitting 3 HD channels per QAM carrier, rather than 2 per QAM like other HD channels. Consequently, available bandwidth per HD channel has decreased, and it has been reported that the video quality of Comcast's new HD channels is inferior to that of competing video services.^[48] “QAM” redirects here. ...

Hacks

On May 28, 2008 Comcast's internet portal located at www.comcast.net was hacked after members of the underground group Kryogeniks gained control of Comcast's domain management console at Network Solutions. Network Solutions denies this fact but a screen capture of the hack in progress shows otherwise^[49]. Network Solutions, LLC is a technology company which was founded in 1979. ... A screenshot of the Wikipedia website, taken on Debian GNU/Linux running the X Window system A screenshot, screen dump, or screen capture is an image taken by the computer to record the visible items on the monitor or another visual output device, usually this is a digital image taken...

When users went to the Comcast portal, it only showed:

This was provided via an embedded iframe sourced to www.defiants.net/hacked.html and then changed to www.freewebs.com/buttpussy69, both of which have since been removed but remained 24 hours after Comcast regained control of their web site.

Also at the same time, email access via the portal and via third-party applications such as Thunderbird and Outlook experienced an outage for most customers and Comcast's high speed network slowed down significantly.^[50] The attack began at around 11:00 PM Eastern time, and the hackers owned comcast.net until 4:00 AM the next morning. Mozilla Thunderbird is a free, cross-platform e-mail and news client developed by the Mozilla Foundation. ... For the e-mail and news client bundled with certain versions of Microsoft Windows, see Outlook Express. ...

Little is known about the interlopers, except for a few traces left behind that hint at some sophomoric sensibilities. In addition to their cryptic defacement, they altered the address for Comcast's administrative contact to "69 dick tard lane, dildo room." ®^[51]

References

2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2008 (MMVIII) is the current year, a leap year that started on Tuesday of the Anno Domini (or common era), in accordance with the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 44th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... is the 335th day of the year (336th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ... For other uses, see 5th October (Serbia). ... Slashdot, often abbreviated as /.[1], is a science, science fiction, and technology-related news website owned by SourceForge, Inc. ...

External links

• Comcast.com: Sales, Stock, and Employment
• Comcast.net: For Comcast High-Speed Internet customers
• Yahoo! - Comcast Corporation Company Profile
• Declan McCullough: The Biggest Spammer on the Net? Comcast?
• Site for the cable networks Comcast controls
• Comcast Press Room (2007). Retrieved on January 29, 2006.

• Comcast Corporate Overview. Retrieved on July 31, 2007.

• Verizon Signs Agreement With Comcast for Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia. Retrieved on December 11, 2006.

• Is Comcast's BitTorrent filtering violating the law?. Retrieved on September 05, 2007.