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 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

• How Comcast’s Xfinity has earned nearly 1 million Facebook fans [Lost Remote]
• NBC 10 to partner with WHYY in one of four new Comcast pledged local news initiatives [Technically Philly]
• Time Warner Cable and Comcast make push into home security [Company Town: Los Angeles Times]
• Apple email users in U.S. not receiving Comcast, Roadrunner messages [Apple Insider]
• Comcast Celebrates the Grand Opening of the Spanish-Language Center of Excellence [Comcast blog]
• Comcast elevates cable systems chief Neil Smit [Company Town: Los Angeles Times] — “Comcast Corp. elevated Neil Smit to chief executive of the company’s revenue engine: Comcast Cable Communications.”
• Chamber picks Comcast’s Cohen for William Penn Award [PhillyInc: Inquirer] — The Chamber of Commerce honoring its chairman of the board David L. Cohen.
• Dump Comcast! This Cable Company is Providing Better Portfolio Service [Investor Place] — Recommend for purchasing Cablevision instead, arguing that Comcast isn’t getting the better side of the Verizon deal.
• Universal Studios Hollywood Plans ‘Harry Potter’ Attractions [Bloomberg]
• Pennsylvania Ballet Flash Dance @ Comcast Center  [Geekadelphia]

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.

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.”

• Comcast goes full-footprint with Dory gateway [CED Magazine]
• NBC News announces changes to technology, social media staff [Poynter]
• Please Turn On Your Cell Phone: Comcast’s Fandango Embraces Mobile Movie Tickets [Mashable]
• ‘Tis The Season for Another Comcast Rate Hike
  Comcast Rings in New Year With Significant Increases [Broadband Reports]
• Comcast Gets Ready for CCAP [Light Reading Cable] — H/T Philly Tech News
• Comcast’s metro E service easy as 1, 2, 3 [CED Magazine]
• In the Know: Is weather radar broken promise from Comcast?  [NaplesNews.com] — People in Southwest Florida want their weather channel back
• Watch a Sneak Preview of “The Comcast Holiday Spectacular 2011″ [Comcast blog] — Video below

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

• Comcast No Longer Choking File Sharers’ Connections, Study Says [Wired: Threat Level] — “Comcast appears to be in compliance with a Federal Communications Commission decision demanding the ISP stop throttling BitTorrent traffic, according to a new study.”
• Inside Comcast’s massive IP VOD network [Gigaom] — onDemand is growing
• Daniel B. Burke, Leading Media Executive, Dies at 82 [New York Times] — Who led the Capital Cities acquisition of ABC in the 1980s and was father of Steve Burke, NBCU chief under Comcast
• Comcast/NBCU Deal Lawyers: Online Video Competition Was Key Concern [Broadcasting and Cable] — “Lawyers involved on all sides of the Comcast/NBCU merger approval agree that access to online video was a key to the conditions imposed by the FCC on the deal, and in the settlement Justice struck with Comcast to ameliorate the departments competition concerns.”
• Comcast, Verizon Ordered To ID Subscribers to Pornographers [Annapolis Patch] — “A federal judge in Greenbelt has ordered the two Internet service providers to identify customers—known only by their numeric “Internet Protocol” addresses—who have been sued for allegedly unlawfully downloading pornographic movies.”
• Comcast (CMCSA) Gains 1.2% Ahead of Time Warner (TWC) Earnings [Market Intelligence Center]
• Comcast Launches HD, Full-Screen Versions Of TV Guide Network In Freedom Region [Multichannel News] — Includes Philadelphia
• Leibowitz Says Comcast Breaking Away From Cable TV Pack [Washington Post] — Video interview seen below

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.

• Comcast upbeat about 3Q performance, CFO says [Market Watch] — “Comcast Corp. executives “feel pretty good about how the business is performing” during the cable industry’s key back-to-school period, Chief Financial Officer Michael Angelakis said. “
• NBC Sports Network the favorite here to win new NFL package  [Sports Business Journal]
• Comcast eyes future, hires big guns [Politico]
• Comcast, Honeywell Slammed by CDP; UPS Tops Latest Rankings [Environmental Leader] — Comcast listed, along with Apple, Amazon, DirecTV and others as being among the largest ‘non-responding’ companies to the  Carbon Disclosure Project’s annual carbon performance and disclosure ratings.
• Minority Entrepreneur Accelerator Program Kicks Off in Philadelphia [Comcast blog] — The DreamIt companies from this program highlighted.
• Eagles lay a block on Comcast SportsNet’s John Gonzalez? [Daily News: Philly Gossip] — Rumor has it that the Eagles asked Comcast SportsNet to keep its new writer John Gonzalez, formerly an Inquirer beat writer, from covering the team, which has thus far happened.
• FCC’s Internet rules clear a review hurdle [Reuters]
• NBCU’s conference highlights the growing buzz of social media [Inquirer]
• Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson will stay on through 2014 [LA Times: Company Town] — “NBCUniversal owner Comcast Corp. took another step to retain Universal Pictures’ top leadership, announcing Monday that it has extended the contract of Chairman Adam Fogelson through 2014. Fogelson’s deal was set to expire at the end of next year.”
• Comcast Battles With BT  [Light Reading Cable] — “Comcast Corp. has lobbed a lawsuit at a unit of U.K.-based BT Group that seeks a ruling that the MSO doesn’t infringe on eight BT network-related patents covering functions such as network-traffic management and fault monitoring.”
• Vail to consider Comcast deal [Vail Daily] — H/T PTN

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]

• Judge Enters Comcast–NBCU Final Judgment, With His Own New OVD Condition [Broadcasting and Cable] H/T PTN
• NBCUniversal’s Burke names investment banker to top financial post  [Company Town: Los Angeles Times] — “The purging of high-profile General Electric Co. executives from NBCUniversal is complete.NBCUniversal Chief Executive Steve Burke on Wednesday put the finishing touches on his senior management team by announcing that Stuart J. Epstein — former managing director of Morgan Stanley and global head of the firm’s media group — would become chief financial officer for the entertainment giant in mid-October.”
• Dick Ebersol Returns to NBC Sports as Advisor [Hollywood Reporter] H/T Philly Tech News
• Comcast Slots SeaChange Into Video Gateways [Light Reading] — Comcast chooses SeaChange ” to power a new line of broadband-connected, hybrid gateways and set-tops that deliver the MSO’s traditional QAM-based video services and a stable of IP-based content”
• Empowering Girls to Win in Science [Comcast blog] — the Comcast Foundation has supported FIRST and this all-girl robotics team from Mount Saint Joseph’s Academy in Flourtown, Pa., which you can watch in action below.

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.

To be eligible for Internet Essentials, a family must have a child receiving free school lunches under the National School Lunch Program. If they qualify, they can receive Internet access for $9.95 (plus taxes) a month without any activation fees or paying for a router, which comes free with the service. The service is an 80 percent discount from what Comcast normally charges, $49 a month for broadband Internet service, plus any fees. Participants in the program also receive a $150 voucher for a laptop from either Acer or Dell.

The program offers connection speeds of just up to 1.5 Mbps download and 384k upload, which wouldn’t do much for streaming videos but would be fine for basic browsing, as Yahoo News reported.

Mayor Nutter said this was a necessary program to help the estimated 230,000 Philadelphia households that do not have Internet access, which puts them at a disadvantage from those that do.

“If you don’t have access to the Internet, you’re already behind,” Nutter said.

Below watch Nutter speak about the importance of Internet access.

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.”

• Comcast Employees Top Donors to Obama Campaign Accounts [ABC News] — “Employees of media giant Comcast have contributed more money to President Obama’s reelection bid than employees from any other organization” This follows Obama’s visit to CEO Brian Roberts’s summer home in Martha’s Vineyard. H/T Philly Tech News
• Comcast to introduce low-cost Internet service for low-income families [Inquirer] — at $9.99 a month, some 150,000 children in Philadelphia could be eligible for the Internet Essentials program, part of Comcast’s pledge to the FCC following the NBC deal.
• Bloomberg TV Takes New Shot At Comcast Over Channel Placement [paidContent]
• The politics of Sharpton’s new gig [Chicago Sun-Times] — Noting a conspiracy theory that Comcast leadership pushed Al Sharpton as an act of attrition around diversity and to win over his support in their NBC deal
• Comcast Welcomes Public Safety Communications Officials to Philadelphia [Comcast blog] — The company smooches up to public safety officials following the APCO conference, which we covered here.
• Comcast vs Net Neutrality: The Movie [TorrentFreak] — A documentary, the trailer for which you can watch below.

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

• Versus will expand its college football programming [USA Today]
• Latinos here to stay, so deal with it, NBC [San Francisco Gate]
• Comcast Rolls Out Metro E, Adds Regional Partners [Channel Partners] — “Less than six months after the controlled rollout of its partner program, Comcast Business Services (Booth #1500 at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo) is adding new regional partners and announcing the availability of its Metro Ethernet services through the indirect channel. ” H/T Philly Tech News
• Take a Look Inside CIM Lab Week [Comcast blog] — Watch below a video interview with Tom Blaxland Jason Press, the CTO of Comcast Interactive Media, about the ‘science fair’ held of creative, collaborative work by Comcast employees

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…”

MIGHT INTEREST

• Comcast Exec to Network Bigs: ‘We Have to Get Out of Our Own Way’ [Adweek] — Says Comcast SVP of interactive media Matt Strauss, noting that “Future of TV up for debate at PromaxDBA conference”
• How Comcast makes its Skype integration look seamless [Gigaom]
• Comcast extends employment contract for CEO Brian Roberts [LA Times: Company Town] For another one-year extension, like last
• Comcast Shutters NBC Universal Digital Studio [Ad Age] — Includes 11 layoffs. H/T Philly Tech News

GIVE A GLANCE

• Comcast donates $50,000 to western Massachusetts tornado relief efforts [Comcast blog]
• Comcast offering free WiFi spots to customers throughout the region in July [Comcast blog]
• Universal Studios President Meyer Signs Contract Extending Tenure to 2015 [Bloomberg] Comcast-controlled operation to extend Ron Meyer’s contract through 2015
• NBC loses Wimbledon coverage to ESPN [Inquirer] — After retaining the $4B Olympics rights, Comcast ownership lost the far smaller $12M Wimbeldon rights to ESPN, after 43 years
• Comcast Added To Goldman Conviction Buy List; Shrs Rise [Forbes: The Tech Trade]