Comcast
In 1963, Ralph J. Roberts and two partners bought American Cable Systems for $500,000. The operation started in Tupelo, Mississippi with just five channels and 12,000 customers. By 1968, the company purchased its first Muzak franchise to play background music in retail stores. Storecast Corporation of America served as a client for that new music division. The firm re-incorporated in Pennsylvania on the 5th of March 1969 under the name Comcast Corporation. An initial public offering occurred on the 29th of June 1972 with a market capitalization of $3,010,000. HBO launched on a Comcast system in 1977 reaching 20,000 customers in western Pennsylvania. A five-night free preview generated a 15% sign-up rate for that service. In 1986, Comcast doubled its subscriber count to one million by buying 26% of Group W Cable. That same year, the company invested $380 million into QVC as a founding partner. Comcast acquired American Cellular Network Corporation in 1988 for $230 million. This marked the first time the business operated as a mobile phone provider.
Comcast announced an acquisition of AT&T Broadband assets for $44.5 billion in 2001. The merged entity reincorporated in Pennsylvania on the 7th of December 2001. On the 18th of November 2002, the company officially took all assets from AT&T Broadband. This move made Comcast the largest cable television company in the United States with over 22 million subscribers. A partnership led by Comcast and Sony Pictures Entertainment finalized a deal to acquire MGM and United Artists on the 8th of April 2005. Comcast purchased Susquehanna Communications for $775 million cash on the 31st of October 2005. The company bought the Seattle-based software firm thePlatform in July 2006. An agreement to buy the assets of bankrupted Adelphia Cable was reached in April 2005. Time Warner Cable and Comcast paid a total of $17.6 billion for those assets. The deal finalized in the second quarter of 2006 after FCC approval. Comcast obtained the Houston system while Time Warner retained other markets like San Antonio and Kansas City. In May 2008, Comcast purchased Plaxo for between $150 million and $170 million.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index found Comcast had the worst rating of any company or government agency in 2004 and 2007. Almost half of all cable customers registered complaints regardless of provider during that period. Revenue increased by 12% while customer satisfaction eroded by 7%. Comcast won the Consumerist Worst Company In America award in 2010 and again in 2014. A gold trophy shaped like a pile of human feces was delivered to Corporate Headquarters to mark the enmity from their base. An investigative series published by The Verge interviewed 150 employees about corporate policies. The report concluded technicians were understaffed and tech support poorly trained. Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson filed a lawsuit on the 1st of August 2016 alleging illegal deception of customers. The FCC issued a $2.3 million fine for charging customers for unordered services. More than one thousand customers complained about these charges. A Minnesota lawsuit settled on the 25th of January 2020 ordered refunds to 15,600 customers plus debt relief for another 16,000.
Brian L. Roberts owns all Class B supervoting shares giving him an
undilutable 33% voting power over the company. He controls about 1% of all Comcast shares but holds effective control over every step. In 2010, his total compensation reached approximately $31 million making him one of the highest-paid executives. Comcast spent $18.8 million on lobbying in 2013 holding the seventh largest budget of any organization. The National Cable & Telecommunications Association represents Comcast as the fifth largest lobbying organization spending $19.8 million that year. Comcast vice president David Cohen raised over $2.2 million from 2007 to 2012 for Barack Obama's presidential runs. The Comcast Corporation and NBCUniversal Political Action Committee raised about $3.7 million from 2011 to 2012. Comcast spent roughly $5 million to lobby for the passage of Stop Online Piracy and PROTECT IP bills. According to Documented, Comcast contributed $200,000 to the Rule of Law Defense Fund in 2020. That fund provided money to the Save America March which became the attack on the U.S. Capitol on the 6th of January 2021.
The hacker group Kryogeniks redirected traffic
from Comcast.net between May 28 and 29, 2008. Attackers used social engineering via two phone calls to change domain contact information. The outage lasted approximately five hours causing an estimated loss of $128,000 USD. James Robert Black Jr. received a four-month prison sentence in 2010 for his role. Security researchers Blake Welsh and Eric Taylor discovered a cross-site scripting vulnerability in July 2015 affecting Aptean SupportSoft software. In November 2015, Comcast required approximately 200,000 customers to reset passwords after credentials were sold online. Researchers at Rapid7 disclosed flaws in Xfinity Home security systems in January 2016 allowing radio jamming attacks. Approximately 35.9 million Xfinity accounts were affected by CitrixBleed exploitation in December 2023. Exposed data included usernames, encrypted passwords, dates of birth, and last four digits of Social Security numbers. Financial Business and Consumer Solutions reported a ransomware attack in February 2024 exposing information on 237,000 customers. U.S. government agencies assessed Comcast as likely targeted by Salt Typhoon espionage group in June 2025.
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Common questions
When was Comcast Corporation officially incorporated in Pennsylvania?
Comcast Corporation re-incorporated in Pennsylvania on the 5th of March 1969. The firm had previously operated as American Cable Systems before this legal change.
How did Comcast become the largest cable television company in the United States?
Comcast became the largest cable television company in the United States after acquiring AT&T Broadband assets for $44.5 billion in 2001. This merger gave the company over 22 million subscribers by November 2002.
What were the customer satisfaction ratings for Comcast during 2004 and 2007?
The American Customer Satisfaction Index found Comcast had the worst rating of any company or government agency in 2004 and 2007. Revenue increased by 12% while customer satisfaction eroded by 7% during that period.
Who holds effective control over every step of Comcast operations?
Brian L. Roberts owns all Class B supervoting shares giving him an undilutable 33% voting power over the company. He controls about 1% of all Comcast shares but holds effective control over every step.
When was the CitrixBleed vulnerability discovered affecting Xfinity accounts?
Approximately 35.9 million Xfinity accounts were affected by CitrixBleed exploitation in December 2023. Exposed data included usernames, encrypted passwords, dates of birth, and last four digits of Social Security numbers.