Comcast to start selling Verizon mobile in early 2012, described as ‘quadruple play’ [ROUNDUP]

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• Comcast to start selling Verizon mobile early 2012 [Reuters]
• Comcast execs: Verizon deal to bring the ‘quadruple play’ [Digital Trends] — “Late last week, Verizon Wireless signed a deal to purchase 122 spectrum licenses from SpectrumCo, a joint venture between Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks, for $3.6 billion. As part of the deal, which awaits approval from the Federal Communications Commission, the Comcast will now be able to sell Verizon Wireless service as part of their communications packages.”
• More on Comcast-Verizon deal [Philly Tech News] Good roundup of other voice on the deal, which is being billed as having the potential for as big an impact as any other in the industry.
• Comcast CFO: NBC Universal integration continues to go ‘really well’ [Hollywood Reporter] — Says Michael Angelakis 10 months after the deal closed. H/T PTN

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NBC 10 to partner with WHYY in one of four new Comcast pledged local news initiatives

Four NBC affiliates will partner with nonprofit news organizations in those markets, as the New York Times reports, in another initiative Comcast brass pledged to the FCC in the cable operator’s takeover of the storied entertainment brand.

Locally, NBC 10 will partner with WHYY, the region’s Old City based public media outfit.

In January, the planned project to bolster local news was first heralded as a noteworthy tradeoff for the consoidation of two large content and delivery companies. The model was due to follow an existing partnership in San Diego between voiceofsandiego.org and KNSD, which, as Poynter reported, “cooperate to produce regular fact-checking segments, explainers on public policy and other features.”

The details of the partnership between WHYY and NBC 10 have not been made fully clear.

In July, NBC 10 put out a request for proposals to partner with nonprofit news organizations in the region.

Black employees in Chicago accuse Comcast of discrimination [Roundup]

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.

• Comcast Tangled in Discrimination Suit [BET] — “Several of the company’s black employees in Chicago say that they were required to install defective and insect-infested equipment in customers’ homes. ” More from the Chicago Tribune here. Officially, the company denies the allegations.
• Key NBC executive Marc Graboff to leave the network [Company Town: LA Times] — “Marc Graboff, president of NBC’s West Coast business operations and the TV network’s longtime consigliere, is leaving the company” after diminishing role, following Comcast’s takeover.
• Q&A: How Comcast is adjusting to our changing TV habits [GeekWire] — “Interview with Tom Blaxland, senior director of product management for Comcast Interactive Media” says Philly Tech News
• Comcast gives CFO Angelakis new contract, title [Philadelphia Business Journal] — “Michael J. Angelakis that promotes him from executive vice president and chief financial officer to vice chairman and CFO.”

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Center City could lose 100 jobs, leadership of NBC Sports to Connecticut [Comcast Roundup] VIDEO

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.

• NBC Sports may move its Phila., N.Y. operations to Conn. [Inquirer] — “Consolidating the Comcast Corp. regional sports headquarters and the Versus cable operations could cost Philadelphia more than 100 jobs, according to estimates.” More from the Connecticut Mirror.
• Unable to Shake Slide in Ratings [Wall Street Journal] — Ratings are continuing to lag this fall, putting Comcast in a greater hole

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Comcast, Verizon deals ‘imminent’ for Microsoft Xbox Live TV: Roundup

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates

• Rating the Comcast-NBCU Merger: The New Culture Settles In [The Wrap]
• Verizon, Comcast deals imminent for Microsoft Xbox Live TV [RapidTV News] — “Microsoft is eyeing partnerships with Comcast and Verizon to bring live TV to the Xbox 360, according to reports.”
• Comcast’s $9.99 Internet for low-income families goes nationwide [ars technica] — The program recently launched in Philadelphia.
• Regulators praise Comcast’s $9.95 monthly high-speed offering [Fierce Cable] — FCC commissioner Julius Genachowski praises the Internet Essentials program.

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Comcast ads misled consumers, regulators say: Roundup [VIDEO]

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates

• Internet Essentials from Comcast: Mayor Nutter, CEO Brian Roberts unveil low-cost internet option [Technically Philly] Find a Willow Grove Patch school angle here.
• Comcast Ads Misled Customers, Regulator Says [The Wrap] — “The advertising industry’s self-regulating division has said that Comcast should modify or discontinue claims it makes about its Xfinity service, including those that imply inaccurate comparisons between Xfinity and its competitors.”
• Comcast’s NBC Universal Takeover Approved With Continuing Court Oversight [Bloomberg]

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Internet Essentials from Comcast: Mayor Nutter, CEO Brian Roberts unveil low-cost internet option [VIDEO]

Mayor Michael Nutter praises the Internet Essentials program from Comcast. Photo by Brian Dzenis

The following is a report done in partnership with Temple University’s Philadelphia Neighborhoods program, the capstone class for the Temple’s Department of Journalism.

Internet Essentials, the low-cost broadband Internet program from Comcast, was launched in Philadelphia Tuesday, after first launching in Chicago in May.

Making good on another of the many commitments Comcast made to the FCC in seeking approval of its majority-stake acquisition of NBC Universal last fall, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts and Mayor Michael Nutter were on hand to officially announce the program at the Salvation Army’s Kroc Center in Nicetown. The Internet Essentials program allows low-income families to obtain Internet service at a rate less than what Comcast normally charges.

In addition to Chicago and Philadelphia, Internet Essentials has launched in Georgia, Delaware and Miami.

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Could 1800 Arch Street become another Comcast tower?: Roundup [VIDEO]

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates

• Another Comcast tower in Center City? [Inquirer: Philly Deals] — New plans for 1800 Arch Street
• Court Rejects Comcast’s Attempt to Throw Out 8-Year-Old Class Action Suit [V2M]  — “A federal appeals court has affirmed a judge’s decision to certify a class-action lawsuit against Comcast in an eight-year-old case over whether the cable TV giant violated antitrust law by engaging in anticompetitive behavior in Chicago and Philadelphia.”

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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts hosts President Obama on Martha’s Vineyard: Roundup [VIDEO]

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an email subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates

• Comcast’s Roberts hosts President Obama on Martha’s Vineyard [Inquirer]
• Comcast ends action against DirecTV [Philadelphia Business Journal] — DirecTV dropped the ads it had been running about Comcast’s NFL Sunday Ticket package, featuring claims that Comcast reps felt were false and misleading. More form paidContent

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Barack Obama raises $1.2 million at Chestnut Hill fundraiser held by David L. Cohen: Comcast Roundup

Every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST, find all the stories you need to know about your friendly telecommunications giant in the Comcast Roundup. Get an e-mail subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Obama and Romney converge on Philadelphia for competing bouts of fund-raising [Inquirer] — For Obama, includes campaign held in the Chestnut Hill home of Comcast EVP David L. Cohen, which raised at least $1.2 million, according to the Washington Post.
• Comcast has to sit on its hands while Hulu drama plays out [LA Times: Company Town] — “Imagine owning a big chunk of a company and having no say in its operations or future.That’s the position Comcast Corp. finds itself in with regard to Hulu, the online video site that consists primarily of content from its owners…”

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