Comcast Corporation - Assignment Example

 Introduction: The largest cable operator in the United States, providing cable television, Internet (broadband), and also telephone services for the purpose of both domestic as well as commercial customers is Comcast Corporation. This paper aims at discussing about the history of the company and other details of the company like the mission, vision, and the growth over the years. History of Company: Comcast was founded back in 1963. The company then dealt with single system cable operations. The company was started by Ralph J. Roberts, Julian A Brodsky and Daniel Aaron in Tupelo, Mississippi (Comcast). Presented below is a timeline of the history of the company and this gives a clear overview of the company and the various stages that it has gone through to reach the position that it currently is at. Timeline: Time Period Events Details 1960s Tupelo Cable System Origination The company originated in 1960s with American Cable System Inc. American Cable System Inc was a small cable operator based in Mississippi, to serve Tupelo. Cable television was only available in America at that time. In 1963, Ralph J Roberts and his brother were looking to invest into a company in a new industry and the owner of American Cable Systems was looking for a person to sell the cable television concern. Robert took this opportunity and along with his brother, Julian Brodsky - a CPA and Daniel Aaron - an ex-system director at Jerrold Electronics took a step forward towards this opportunity. Together the four of them worked together and provided cable network to 1500 customers with only 5 channels. Roberts, Aaron and Brodsky went on to managing the company and stood by each other even in difficult times. The company was faced with difficulties in growing any further in Tupelo and this lead the trio to be forced to even be door - to - door salesmen. 1964 - 1965 Additional Franchises By 1964, the trio were decided to get a few franchises in places like Laurel, West Point and Meridian in Eastern Mississippi. In 1965, they went on to get more franchises in Baldwyn, and Okolona (Cohen). The company however was faced with an issue of low levels of subscribers and high levels of cist of setting up a local system. 1960 - 1970 Aggressive Expansion Robert did not let the slow growth affect his spirit and he worked towards penetrating into the major markets of Philadelphia. He was able to gain the cable franchises in the northern suburbs of Philadelphia and places like Upper Darby, Cheltenham and Abington. He used ever possible opportunity to help grow the business and achieve higher economies of scale. Robert bought Westmoreland cable system and expanded his presence into six more local communities (Fabrikant). This success did not stop him and he went on to get a joint venture with Philadelphia Bulletin to serve the areas of Sarasota, and Venice in Florida. He also moved into diversifying the business and hence he joined his brother to buy a major franchise for the subscription of 'Elevator Music' in Orlando Florida. 1960 - 1970 Name Change Robert had high hopes for the company and he wanted the company to be recognized for the technological identity, he hence changed the name to a fusion of 'communication' and 'broadcast'. This led to the name 'Comcast' Corporation and the company was then reincorporated in Pennsylvania. 1970 Reorganization of operations In 1970 the company went on to create a little organized structure of its operations and in an attempt to do so, they sold off the Florida operations to a company called Storer Communications and getting into a limited partnership to buy Multiview Cable - local franchise mainly in Hartford County of Maryland. The company also went on to purchase the franchise for Dallas, Detroit, Hartford, Connecticut and also San Diego (Funding Universe). 1972 - 1977 Going Public Although the company has grown to gain a total of 40,000 customers, it still lacked in the subscriber rates and hence in an attempt to expand further and for the financial support the company went on to go in for a public offering. In 1974 the company went on to buy the franchise for Paducah, and Kentucky, following which in 1976, they went on to acquiring Hillsdale, Jonesville, Michigan and Flint. The company also went on to buy the partner's interest in Multiview in 1977 (Fabrikant) 1977 - 1980 Tremendous Growth The company went on to offer higher number of channels and more number of offerings with its product, which led the company to win over higher number of franchises and serve in different areas of northern New Jersey and other areas like Lower Merion, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Clinton and Warren. The company went on to win numerous franchises and had purchased several companies like Indianapolis, Buffalo, Pennsylvania, Peoria and Illinois. 1983 - 1988 Entry into United Kingdom and entry into the Cellular service 1983 was an life changing move for the company. In partnership with the British gambling and entertainment enterprise - Ladbroke, the company won the license to enter into the cable television industry in London. UK was in the infancy stages during this period and subscribers in the UK got only 5 channels which were all government supported. Hence this was a major move as the subscribers were happy to deal with the company. Unaffected by the several multidollar company competition that the company faced, they went on steady and grew through acquisitions (Cohen). Over these years the company bought several operations and went on to gain a subscribership of almost one million customers. The company was now continuously growing and no one and nothing could come in the way of the success of Comcast. 1988, saw another very big decision for the company. The company bought over the American Cellular Network which mainly served in New Jersey. 1990s Aggressive Strategies The 90s was the zenith for the company's growth and aggressive strategies. There were several activities that took place during the period. There were several deregulations that reduced the barriers for entry into the markets thereby leading to higher levels of competition for the company (Weber). There was also a high number of acquisitions and mergers that took place during this period and Comcast was a major contributor to this changes in the industry. This period was also one of the most dramatic period for the company and the company moved on to become a major entertainment provider. There were several attempts that had been tried by major corporations to buy a share of the company. Companies like Microsoft wanted to be partners with Comcast and have a total of 11.5% nonvoting interest in the company. Comcast continued to grow and move into newer and largest markets constantly (The Economist). 2000 - 2008 Comcast Center Comcast has spent the several years in building itself and growing to become a major corporation it currently is. The company's efforts were no bearing fruits and the company is now getting all the recognition and reward for the hard work put in by the trio almost 40 years ago. The company now has a major center it has built for itself in the heart of the Philadelphia city. A building that rises 975 feet tall with a total of 58 stories. This is the Comcast center! (Liberty Property) Company Mission and Structure: Comcast Mission/ Vision Statement: "As Comcast evolves, we continue to look to the future - seeking out new communications technology, new opportunities, and more choices. We want to continue to provide people with the communications products and services that connect them to what’s important in their lives" (Company Statements Slogans) Comcast Structure and Growth: Comcast has grown in size by buying the majority of the shares in numerous companies like The Golf Channel, Versus, E!Entertainment Television, Comcast Sports Net Washington DC/ Baltimore, Comcast Sports Net Maryland, Comcast Sports Net Chicago, Comcast Spectacor, Comcast Sports Net Philadelphia, Comcast Sports Net Michigan, Comcast Sports Net – San Francisco Bay Area, Comcast Sports Net Sacramento, and Comcast Sports Net Pacific North West, G4, and Style Network. The company’s logo in the 1990s read, ‘Everything You Connect With’. Comcast has lived up to this name and image (Comcast). The company has started numerous companies and channels. One of the recent ones was in 2006, a sports channel called Sports Net New York. This channel was mainly for the New York City Region and was started in partnership with the New York Mets and Time Warner Cable. Comcast also has a wide range and variety in terms of the network. The network range is referred to as Comcast Network and is available to all Cablevision and Comcast subscribers. The company’s organizational structure is flat and a centralized form. The figure below provides a brief overview of the company’s organizational structure: Figure: Organizational Structure of Comcast (The Official Board) Conclusion: Comcast is now one of the biggest companies in the industry and holds as much as over 30% of the total market share. The company has been listed in the fortune 500 companies and ranks on the 79th position, with recorded revenue of $30,895 million and a profit of $2587 million. The market value of the company has been valued at $56901.9 million. The company has seen an annual growth of 5.1% in 2007, and is constantly growing (CNN Money). Works Cited CNN Money. Fortune 500. May 2008. 5 November 2009 . Cohen, Warren. "Scrambled Signals in the TV World: Comcast Scuttles the Vaunted CBS-QVC Deal." U.S. News & World Report (1994): 43. Comcast. A Look at Our History. 2009. 6 November 2009 . Company Statements Slogans. Comcast. 2009. 5 November 2009 . Fabrikant, Geraldine. "The Heir Is Clearly Apparent at Comcast." New York Times (1997): 1 - 12. Funding Universe. Comcast Corporation . 2009. 6 November 2009 . Liberty Property. Comcast Center Timeline. 2009. 5 November 2009 . The Economist. "Friend of Bill: He Is a Young Cable Tycoon, Much Loved by Microsoft. What Can Brian Roberts Possibly Worry About?" Economist (1997): 69. The Official Board. Comcast. 4 December 2008. 6 November 2009 . Weber, Joseph. "Comcast Plays Hard to Get." Business Week (1993): 82-83. Read More