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 reports jump in profits, revenues [Inquirer] — “Helped by Super Bowl advertising and still-surging demand for Internet services, Comcast Corp. reported a 30 percent jump in profits to $1.2 billion and a 22.7 percent boost in revenue to $14.9 billion during the first quarter”
• For Comcast, data equals big dollars [Gigaom] — “During the first quarter of 2012 (ending March 31), the company added 439,000 net new high-speed Internet customers to bring the final tally to 18.58 million”
• Comcast Falls After Reporting Video-Subscriber Decline [Bloomberg]
• Comcast’s losses in cable subscribers continue [San Francisco Chronicle] — “37,000: That’s how many cable TV subscribers Comcast lost in the first quarter.”
• Comcast Must Put Bloomberg TV Among News Channels, FCC Says [Bloomberg] — “Comcast (CMCSA) Corp. must carry Bloomberg Television near other news channels on cable systems in the 35 largest U.S. media markets, the Federal Communications Commission said today. “
• Comcast Cares Day 2012: A Day in Photos [Comcast Voices] — “67,000 Comcast employees, their families and their friends offered their time and elbow grease to nearly 650 projects in 39 states and Washington, D.C. Comcast and NBCUniversal volunteers painted schools; planted trees and gardens; cleaned up parks and trails; and beautified community centers.”

• Comcast Awards $173,000 in scholarships to Pennsylvania high school seniors [Sacramento Bee]
• On the Call: Comcast executive on Xfinity iPad app [CBS Money Watch] — With Neil Smit
• NBC Universal’s Style Network and DailyCandy Team Up for StyleCandy [Ad Age]
• Comcast CEO Roberts says deal will close in 2012 [Philadelphia Business Journal] — “Comcast Corp. Chairman, CEO and President Brian Roberts said he expects the controversial deal in which a joint venture between Comcast and two other cable-television firms would sell its 122 Advanced Wireless Services spectrum licenses to Verizon Wireless for $3.6 billion to close in the latter part of the year.”
• Summary Box: Comcast 1Q net rises 30 pct [Fox 6 Alabama]
• Comcast Business Class Services Recruits VARs For The Cloud [CRN]
• Hoping for FiOS, some cities now feel abandoned by Verizon [Inquirer] — “Years after Verizon Communications Inc. wired the suburbs of Boston, Buffalo, and Baltimore with superfast Internet, more than one million residents in the poorer urban neighborhoods of those metro areas are still waiting for FiOS.”
• More Comcast Cares coverage and the below wrap up video here.

You’ve probably seen TV shows and news broadcasts attempt to incorporate Facebook and other forms of social media into their content in all sorts of ways — some successfully, some not so much.

But NBC Philadelphia and social media agency Bradford Media Group, which has regional offices in West Chester, are trying a new way to bring social media to television.

The pair premiered Life Around Home, a new project to create television programming entirely driven by the conversations taking place on the show’s Facebook page last week, according to a press release. The show aired on Philadelphia NBC Nonstop, the station’s 24-hour cable channel, which features some original programing on loop.

The new show is hosted by TV personality and home expert Marie Louise Ludwig. Content is geared toward women and will feature a slew of lifestyle experts who will focus on organic living, DIY Projects, cooking, life celebrations, fitness, fashion and parenting, according to a release.

Here’s a video introduction to the new show:

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.

• Netflix CEO’s Comcast Complaints Draw in FCC [Wall Street Journal: Digits] — Reed Hastings
• Reed Hastings Goes After Comcast, Again, on Facebook. Again. [All Things Digital] — More on the Netflix CEO
• Councilman Jim Kenney thinks FiOs is dragging its feet [CBS 3] “We were happy to have competition with our current major cable provider, Comcast.  But we want to make sure that every neighborhood in the city is getting built out with the Fios, and not just neighborhoods that can afford to pay the fees,” he said. Philadelphia Councilman Thinks Verizon May Be Foot-Dragging On FiOS Construction

• Judge: Comcast customers will get their day in court [Inquirer] – “Nine years after filing their first legal complaint, Comcast customers who contend that the cable television giant undercut competitors with unfair pricing policies and other anticompetitive strategies can take their claims to a jury.”
• Comcast and satellite companies at impasse over SportsNet programming [Inquirer] — “If you’re a sports fan and a cable subscriber, you could have caught much of this winter and spring’s action on Comcast SportsNet, which carries a majority of this city’s baseball, hockey and basketball games. But you still can’t watch most of your local teams’ games on Dish Network or DirecTV — unlike almost everywhere else in the country”
• Comcast Promotes Melanie Penna to SVP of Human Resources for Comcast Cable [citybizlist]
• NBC-Owned Stations, Comcast Sports Group Strike Ad Sales Partnership
  Station Group to Sell National Advertising for Comcast RSNs in Philly, DC, New England, Northwest (Multichannel News)
• Hulu to Boost Spending on Content This Year by 67% [Wall Street Journal: Digits]
• Comcast Is First U.S. ISP to Offer IPv6 to Home Gateway Users [Network World]
• Comcast Tests Network DVR in Boston [Light Reading Cable]

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.

• Bloomberg takes another FCC shot at Comcast [Los Angeles Times: Company Town] — “Bloomberg LP has filed another complaint with the Federal Communications Commission against Comcast Corp., claiming that the cable giant is thumbing its nose at conditions the government put on it as part of approving its 2011 takeover of NBCUniversal”
• Comcast spent heavily in support of anti-online piracy bills [The Hill]  — “A look at early disclosures by the company’s outside lobbying consultants shows over a quarter of a million dollars spent during the first quarter of 2011 alone, much of it on consultants to lobby for SOPA and its Senate companion bill, the Protect IP Act.”
• Comcast May Face Rate Regulation in Boston, FCC Says [Bloomberg]
• Comcast Files Patent Application for Web TV Tech [Zatz Not Funny]

• Comcast updates Xfinity TV for iOS with DVR management controls [The Verge]
• Comcast Honored as Top 10 Company for Its Work with Veteran-Owned Businesses [EON]
• Comcast Xfinity On Demand rolling out to TiVo Premiere subscribers in SF Bay Area [The Verge]
• Comcast to test IPTV network at MIT [Fierce Cable]
• Comcast, TWC Still Bullish On Interactive TV [Multichannel News] — “Two Biggest Operators See New Opportunities for EBIF Platform”
• Comcast Cares Day set for April 16 [Journal Standard] — The Illinois version of the Comcast day of volunteering
• Comcast to Sponsor Beautification Day at Buri Buri  [South San Francisco Patch]
• At Large : Comcast gets the news, the sequel [MVTimes] — More squabbling in Maratha’s Vineyard over Comcast service

For those who gauge startup success by ‘traction,’ Mark Schoneveld says Poptent might be the region’s biggest web 2.0 success story.

Poptent, which hosts contests for brands for its community of video creators to make viral marketing videos, has continued to grow since launching in 2007, welcoming new users and bigger companies. It is hiring in Conshohocken, including engineers and social media savvy community leaders, and, adds Poptent Director of Community Schoneveld, the company has reached a positive cash flow, is now up to 40,000 registered users and is about to cross $3 million in creator payouts.

“What we started doing was totally experimental. Brands were getting used to crowd sourcing and giving up control,” said Schoneveld. “We’ve been at the forefront of crowdsourcing for years and now we’re taking it new places.”

The company takes a fee from big brands — like Southwest Airlines, Netflix, Anheuser Busch, Quiznos and others — and negotiates a rate for commercial video production, putting the bid out to its open community or specific members.

Last October, the 50-person company announced it had raised $6.8 million in venture funding, following a move to reincorporate in tax haven Delaware. Though holding a staff of 25 in their Conshohocken-based Spring Mill Corporate Center, Poptent lists its Orange County, Calif. office as its headquarters and the home of CEO Andy Jedynak. But the company is looking more international, having a handful of employees in Sao Paulo, Brazil and working on plans to expand again with European offices in 2012, said Schoneveld.

Part of that growth is coming from Shoneveld’s community role, developing, attracting and retaining the best video production and creative talent.

So, while the company made its start in lower paying gigs that came with a higher risk because more competition was having at them, the company is supplementing those open assignments with match-making.

“The new wave of crowd sourcing companies is more about talent discovery than just cheap production,” Schoneveld said. “If you curate that community, the talent rises to the top quickly.”

Schoneveld, a 1999 alumnus of Penn State, has been active in Philadelphia’s web and music scene for years. He’s been working with Poptent since June 2007, when he was doing freelance video work and running popular video podcast Illadates. He’s now on the board of directors for Weathervane and writes on a handful of local blogs, including YVYNYL.

In recent months, the most dependable, most creative, strongest talent from their community have been invited to apply for higher paying, less risky opportunities. It’s a move that works especially well for more discreet partners who are, for example, releasing new products. Other times, businesses want production work from specific markets, Schoneveld added.

“Cool things are coming from this little company in Conshohocken,” he said at an event in September.

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

• Microsoft Is Said to Add Comcast, Verizon Pay TV to Xbox Live [Bloomberg]
• Comcast Testing Theme-Based Cable Packages In CT; A National First For Choice? [Hartford Courant] — Flood of interest around whether this could move to the always often requested a la carte model, which would make winners and losers of many channels.
• Comcast Working on iPad TV Streaming Service Called AnyPlay [Mac Rumors] — H/T PTN
• Comcast: Not Just Bigger — Better [Multichannel News] — Named the news site’s 2011 Operator of the year
• NBCUniversal Names Emilio Romano President of Telemundo [Hollywood Reporter]
• Comcast forms telecom towers unit  [Philadelphia Business Journal] — “Comcast Corp.’s venture-capital unit said Wednesday it has formed a new portfolio company to develop, own and run telecommunications towers throughout the United States.CTI Towers Inc. is based outside Boston in Franklin, Mass.,”
• A tour of the ultimate techie home, courtesy of Comcast [Philadelphia Business Journal] — A technology decked out Haverford mansion in partnership with Philadelphia magazine’s Design Home

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

• Philadelphia 76ers sold by Comcast unit [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Comcast-Spectacor comes to “an agreement to sell the Sixers to a group led by Joshua Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management”
• Can Comcast Stop Losing Video Subscribers? [Light Reading Cable]– H/T Philly Tech News

• FCC Bureau Seeks Fine for Comcast in Tennis Channel Dispute [Bloomberg] — “Comcast Corp. (CMCSA), the largest U.S. pay TV service, favored its own sports programming over the Tennis Channel in violation of federal rules and should be forced to distribute the network on equal terms, regulators said. “
• Netflix criticizes new Internet billing by bits [Post Tech: Washington Post] — “In an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal, Netflix General Counsel David Hyman, wrote that new data tiers by ISPs such as AT&T, Comcast and Verizon don’t reflect how much it costs to actually increase bandwidth on networks.”
• OH My! Omnicom, Horizon Team Up To Pitch Comcast [MediaPost: Media Daily News] — “… two of the [marketing] industry’s biggest and fiercest competitors — Omnicom Media Group and Horizon Media- – have teamed up to jointly pitch Comcast’s estimated $1.4 billion media services account.”
• Comcast to hike rates 3.3% for cable TV customers [Lancaster Intelligencer Journal] — Starting in portions of Pennsylvania.
• Comcast Xfinity Featured in FCC Technology Experience Center [Comcast blog]
• How Will the TV News Industry Evolve Over the Next 15 Years? [Comcast blog] — Watch video interviews of MSNBC staff 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 e-mail subscription for our weekly Comcast roundup or other news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast CEO: “Jury is Out” on Netflix’s Impact [Wall Street Journal: Digits] — Brian Roberts on whether Netflix is friend or foe.
• Comcast CEO Brian Roberts Speaks Out on Bloomberg FCC Complaint, NBC News [MediaBistro]
• Hulu weighs sale options after approach: source [Reuters] — Comcast, via NBC, has some ownership. Tech Crunch called this BS.
• Powell: Comcast/NBCU Merger Net Positive for Industry [Broadcasting & Cable] — “National Cable & Telecommunications Association President and former FCC Chairman Michael Powell told a C-SPAN interviewer that he thought the Comcast/NBCU meld would be a net positive for the industry, providing some ‘real glue’ for an industry already melding increasingly disparate interests.”

MIGHT INTEREST

• List of biggest advertising spenders has Comcast, Campbell’s  [Philadelphia Business Journal] — Comcast spent $1.85 billion on advertising last year
• Comcast spent $5.7M in 1Q to lobby for NBCU deal [AP]
• Reid’s top aide got $1.2M from Comcast [On Media: Politico]
• The NBC News/CNBC Exodus, Why Is So Much Top Talent Leaving The Network? [Mediaite] H/T Philly Tech News
• Comcast Will Slash Wait Times for Cable Repair After ‘Worst’ Designation (Bloomberg) H/T PTN
• Comcast’s New Products Aim To Bring Digital Media To Cable TV [NASDAQ.com]
• Comcast Using Juniper, Ciena Metro Ethernet Gear[Multichannel News]
• Brian Roberts video interview [Bloomberg] — Watch it below, focusing on the above announcement

First look at Comcast’s enhanced TV service with Facebook integration [VentureBeat] — Watch the 17-minute presentation demo below.

Comcast CFO Discusses Comcast/NBCUniversal and the Future of Media [Chamber of Commerce] — Michael J. Angelakis had spoken at an event with David L. Cohen, who chairs the chamber and afterward spoke about the merger, including how it might impact 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 e-mail subscri ption for our Comcast news updates.

DEFINITE READS

• Comcast to Offer Customers Skype Video Calls on Their TVs [New York Times] — “In the cable television industry’s latest extension into home communication, Comcast and Skype  announced on Monday that some Comcast customers would soon be able to video chat on their TV sets from the comfort of their living rooms. ” VIDEO below
• Comcast Taps Facebook for Enhanced TV Experience [Hollywood Reporter] — “Comcast Corp. is working with Facebook, Intel and other technology firms to create what it calls a next-generation TV experience, which will make the TV screen more interactive by adding Internet features and apps. “
• @ Cable Show: Comcast’s Roberts Shows Off 1Gbps Potential [paidContent] h/t Philly Tech News

Below, video of Comcast/Skype partnership, plans to profit off the Olympics and more.

MIGHT BE WORTH IT

• Comcast Said to Be in Talks Over G4 Cable Channel [New York Times] — “Comcast is in talks to sell a controlling interest in the G4 cable channel to the Ultimate Fighting Championship. ” The price could be as high as $600 million, Bloomberg reports.
• Comcast CEO’s Bet on Profitable Olympics Met With Skepticism [Bloomberg] — GE said it lost $223 million on the Vancouver Games
• Keeping Olympics was priority for NBC [Company Town: Los Angeles Times] h/t PTN
• Comcast home security available in six markets including Philadelphia [Philadelphia Business Journal]– Expansion of service deployed in Houston last year.
• The startup behind Comcast’s home security service: iControl [Gigaom]
• NBCUniversal Executives Huddle for First Retreat Under Comcast [Hollywood Reporter] — “Days after NBCUniversal successfully won U.S. television rights to the Olympics until 2020, top company executives are holed up in Santa Barbara for the first strategy-planning retreat under the new Comcast ownership” Steve Burke among executives there
• NBC Chairman Robert Greenblatt Shares His Plan to Rebuild the Network (Exclusive Q&A) [Hollywood Reporter]
• What You Need to Know About Comcast Xcalibur [Zatz Not Funny] — “Comcast Xcalibur, the code-named IP-based service designed to feed consumers their Internet access and video content all through a single fat pipe”
• Bloomberg TV wants Comcast to be more neighborly, files FCC complaint [Philadelphia Business Journal]

GIVE A GLANCE

• Comcast doubly blessed with wireless spectrum [Fierce Cable] — From PTN: “Discussion from yesterday’s RCR Wireless conference in Philadelphia.”
• Comcast at the 2011 National Cable Show [Comcast blog]
• Comcast Donates $50,000 to North Minneapolis Relief Efforts [Comcast blog]
• Comcast Names Johnnie Giles Executive Director for External Affairs [press release]

• Comcast and Skype Partner to Bring HD Video Calling Experience to the Living Room, watch video below