Comcast Corporation,[note 1] headquartered in Philadelphia and incorporated in Pennsylvania, is the largest American multinational telecommunications conglomerate.[8] It is the second-largest broadcasting and cable television company in the world by revenue, the largest pay-TV company, the largest cable TV company and largest home Internet service provider in the United States, and the nation's third-largest home telephone service provider. It provides services to U.S. residential and commercial customers in 40 states and the District of Columbia.[9] As the parent company of the international media company NBCUniversal since 2011,[10][11][12][13] Comcast is a producer of feature films for theatrical exhibition, and over-the-air and cable television programming.
It is the fourth-largest broadcasting and cable television company worldwide by revenue (behind China Mobile, Verizon and AT&T).[9] It is the third-largest pay-TV company, the second-largest cable TV company by subscribers, and the largest home Internet service provider in the United States. In 2023, the company was ranked 51st in the Forbes Global 2000.[10] Comcast is additionally the nation's third-largest home telephone service provider. It provides services to U.S. residential and commercial customers in 40 states and the District of Columbia.[11] As the owner of NBCUniversal since 2011, Comcast is also a high-volume producer of films for theatrical exhibition and television programming, and a theme park operator. It is the fourth-largest telecommunications company by worldwide revenue.[9]
Comcast owns and operates the Xfinity residential cable communications business segment and division; Comcast Business, a commercial services provider; and Xfinity Mobile, an MVNO of Verizon. Through NBCUniversal, Comcast is also the owner and operator of over-the-air national broadcast network channels such as NBC, Telemundo, TeleXitos, and Cozi TV; multiple cable-only channels such as MSNBC, CNBC, USA Network, Syfy, Oxygen, Bravo, and E!; the film studio Universal Pictures; the VOD streaming service Peacock; animation studios DreamWorks Animation, Illumination, and Universal Animation Studios; and Universal Destinations & Experiences. It also has significant holdings in digital distribution, such as thePlatform, which it acquired in 2006; and ad-tech company FreeWheel, which it acquired in 2014. Since October 2018, Comcast is also the parent company of Sky Group.[12]
Comcast is criticized and put under intense public scrutiny for a variety of reasons. Its customer satisfaction ratings were among the lowest in the cable industry during the years 2008–2010.[13][14] It has violated net neutrality practices in the past and despite its commitment to a narrow definition of net neutrality,[15] critics advocate a definition that precludes any distinction between Comcast's private network services and the rest of the Internet.[16] Critics also point out a lack of competition in the vast majority of Comcast's service areas; in particular, the limited competition among cable providers.[17] Given its negotiating power as a large ISP, some suspect that it could leverage paid peering agreements to unfairly influence end-user connection speeds. Its ownership of both content production (in NBCUniversal) and distribution (as an ISP) has raised antitrust concerns. These issues and others led to Comcast being dubbed "The Worst Company in America" by The Consumerist in 2010 and 2014.[18][19]
Criticism and Controversies[]
Main article: Criticism of Comcast
Comcast service van, Ypsilanti Township, Michigan In 2004 and 2007, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) survey found that Comcast had the worst customer satisfaction rating of any company or government agency in the country, including the Internal Revenue Service. The ACSI indicates that almost half of all cable customers (regardless of company) have registered complaints, and that cable is the only industry to score below 60 in the ACSI.[235] 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."[236][237]
In April 2014, Comcast was awarded the 2014 "Worst Company in America" award; an annual contest by the consumer affairs blog The Consumerist that runs a series of reader polls to determine the least popular company in America. This was the second time Comcast had been awarded this title, the first being in 2010.[238]
Comcast spends millions of dollars annually on lobbying.[239][240] Comcast employs the spouses, sons and daughters of mayors, councilmen, commissioners, and other officials to assure its continued preferred market allocations.[241][242][243]
Comcast was given an "F" for its corporate governance practices in 2010, by Corporate Library, an independent shareholder-research organization. According to Corporate Library, Comcast's board of directors ability to oversee and control management was severely compromised (at least in 2010) by the fact that several of the directors either worked for the company or had business ties to it (making them susceptible to management pressure), and a third of the directors were over 70 years of age. According to The Wall Street Journal nearly two thirds of the flights of Comcast's $40 million corporate jet purchased for business travel related to the NBCU acquisition, were to CEO Brian Roberts' private homes or to resorts.[244]
On August 1, 2016, Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit against Comcast Corporation in King County Superior Court, alleging the company's own documents reveal a pattern of illegally deceiving their customers to pad their bottom line by tens of millions of dollars.[245] The FCC issued a $2.3 million fine to Comcast after finding that the company was charging customers for unordered services and equipment. More than a thousand customers issued complaints about these unprecedented charges to their bill. In addition, numerous customers reported inappropriate name-calling and interrogation by customer service representatives. Comcast's executive vice president, David Cohen, admitted the company needed to improve their customer service.[246]
On August 8, 2016, an official Comcast employee confirmed that Comcast was changing native 1080i channels to the 720p60 format. "Official Employees are from multiple teams within Comcast: Product, Support, Leadership."[247]
In February 2017, Comcast was ordered by the self-regulatory National Advertising Review Board to cease using a claim based on Speedtest.net data that it has "America's fastest internet", stating that "Ookla's data showed only that Xfinity consumers who took advantage of the free tests offered on the Speedtest.net website subscribed to tiers of service with higher download speeds than Verizon FiOS consumers who took advantage of the tests." They were also ordered to stop using a claim that the company offers the "fastest in-home Wi-Fi," which was poorly substantiated.[248]
On December 21, 2018, Minnesota State Attorney General Lori Swanson filed a lawsuit against Comcast in Hennepin County over allegations that the company had overcharged customers for cable packages, added home security, service protection plans, modem and other equipment packages to customers bills without their consent, and did not give customers the prepaid $200 Visa cards they promised to give if customers kept up-to-date on their monthly bills for 90 days on their advertisements.[249] On January 25, 2020, the lawsuit was settled, Comcast being ordered to refund 15,600 customers and give 16,000 other customers debt relief. Comcast was also ordered to disclose the full amounts customers will be charged for using their services on their advertisements.[250]
As of fall 2019, Comcast is the last major cable provider or streamer to neglect to carry the ACC Network, prompting some customers to consider cutting the cord or switching providers.[251][252] Forbes magazine criticized the decision not to carry the college sports network as violating a fundamental principle of marketing: "never give your customers a reason to switch."[253] North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper asked Comcast and AT&T to carry the network, after which AT&T did so on their U-Verse cable service.[252][254]
In June 2021, the Supreme Court rejected a petition for review by Comcast regarding an anti-trust lawsuit by Viamedia, Inc. after the Biden administration had recommended against review.[255]
Carbon footprint[]
Comcast reported total CO2e emissions (direct + indirect) for the twelve months ending 31 December 2020 at 2,291 Kt (-249 /-9.8% y-o-y).[256]
Comcast's annual total CO2e emissions (direct + indirect) (in kilotonnes)
Dec. 2019 Dec. 2020 Dec. 2021 Dec. 2022 2,540[257] 2,291[256] 2,071[258] 1,978[258]
Notes[]
1. Before the AT&T merger in 2001, the parent company was Comcast Holdings Corporation. Comcast Holdings Corporation now refers to a subsidiary of Comcast Corporation, not the parent company (see: Bloomberg profile on Comcast Holdings Corporation). Technically, the current parent company was founded December 7, 2001 as CAB Holdings Corporation, which changed its name to AT&T Comcast Corporation before finally taking on the Comcast Corporation name (see: Nov 2002 8K/A Form Archived March 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine and Nov 2002 S-4 Archived March 25, 2014, at the Wayback Machine).
External links[]
- Comcast at Wikipedia
Template:Comcast