Comcast Showbiz and Celebrity Breaking News

Jaden Thompson Seven fellows have been selected for the 9th annual Native American TV Writers Lab, administered by the Native American Media Alliance. The eight-week program consists of daily workshops, seminars and one-on-one mentoring with the aim of coaching the fellows on how to develop a pilot and cultivate the skills needed to land TV staff writer positions.

Comcast said chairman and chief executive Brian Roberts‘ pay package for 2023 totaled $35.47 million, up from $32 million the year before. It included a $2.5 million base salary, stock awards valued at about $15 million, $9.2 million in option awards and $8.55 million in what’s called non-equity incentive plan compensation – like a cash bonus.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Brian Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast, had a compensation package worth $35.47 million in 2023, as he saw his pay rise 11% from the year prior. Roberts, who oversees the cable giant and NBCUniversal, last year had a salary of $2.5 million, stock awards worth $15 million, stock options worth $9.2 million and a $8.55 million cash incentive bonus. In 2022, his compensation totaled about $32.1 million.

Comcast reported first quarter results that outpaced Wall Street expectations, with Peacock reaching 34 million subscribers but posting higher programming costs.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Comcast notched a small first quarter profit despite continued erosion in its core cable operations and a lack of new spending from advertisers at its NBCUniversal operations. The Philadelphia owner of NBC, USA and the Peacock streaming service said profit rose just 0.6% during the period, to $3.86 billion, or 97 cents a share, compared with $3.83 billion, or 91 cents a share in the year-earlier quarter. Revenue rose 1.2% to $30.06 billion.

Wonya Lucas, a veteran media exec who held the post of CEO for Hallmark Media Networks and TV One, has been appointed to Comcast‘s board of directors.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Wonya Lucas, former president and CEO of Hallmark Media Networks, has joined Comcast‘s board as an independent director. Comcast announced Lucas’s addition to the board, effective as of April 15, in an SEC filing Monday. She has not yet been appointed to serve as a member of any board committee, according to the filing.

Longtime NBC ad sales executive Krishan Bhatia has landed at Amazon as VP, Global Video Advertising Sales, a new position for a new team within ad sales focused on streaming TV offerings across live sports, Amazon Freevee, Twitch, Prime Video ads, and third-party publishers.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor Charter Communications is about to play a guest-star role in the corporate drama surrounding Paramount Global. As if Shari Redstone’s media empire wasn’t under enough pressure, Paramount Global now is in the final few weeks of its most recent carriage agreement with Charter, the nation’s second largest cable operator behind Comcast. The two companies are in renewal discussions, the outcome of which will have significant influence on Paramount’s ability to deliver the free cash flow that media investors are expecting from the company that has lately posted big losses on streaming operations.

The FCC will vote on April 25 on whether to reinstate net neutrality rules, which would prohibit Comcast, AT&T and other internet providers from blocking or throttling internet traffic or creating paid fast lanes to consumers.

Comcast hosted about 300 at its Philadelphia headquarters Tuesday to highlight the technology side of its business, one that’s less covered than entertainment but sets it apart from media rivals, and gives its content an attractive home.

Meredith Woerner Deputy Editor, Variety.com Welcoming nominees and guests to the 76th DGA Awards, director, producer and writer Judd Apatow greeted the audience joking, “I’m your host Bradley Cooper in an even more beguiling Jewish nose.” Apatow opened up with a zinger drafting off the DGA’s history of never striking against the studios. He noted that his agents told him to hold out for more money for his fifth time as host of the ceremony: “But in the spirit of the DGA I accepted their first offer.” Taking aim at the current political landscape, Apatow addressed the crowd stating, “I swear to god if this is the only time you vote this year, you can all go fuck yourselves.” He noted the age of the likely nominees for the presidential election, Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

must be included on candidates’ signs, on mailers, and in television ads, in order to inform voters of who, or which entities, are sponsoring or funding certain political messages.According to the statute, a candidate or candidate campaign committee that seeks to air a television advertisement must include a “visual legend” constituting “20 scan lines in size” in the ad reading, “Paid for by [name of the candidate or campaign committee sponsoring the ad].”If the ad references another candidate by name — as Woolf’s does, specifically mentioning Roem — the candidate must include a disclosure statement spoken by the sponsoring candidate, saying: “I am” or “This is” followed by their name, the office for which they are running, and disclosing that the candidate or their campaign “paid for this ad.”Because Woolf’s ad lacked notification about the office for which he is running, it technically violated the law. The law does not deal with the content of any ad or mailer.

ue to our park closure, we recently furloughed team members and provided the state with the required notification.  We are maintaining health benefits for these impacted team members and covering the full cost until further notice.

“The Office.” But it joins an already crowded landscape with well-established rivals like Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Disney+.Peacock is also debuting without its main draw, the Tokyo summer Olympics, which were postponed until 2021.

Comcast and Fox Corp. have come to terms on a broad carriage agreement covering all of Fox’s cable channels, including Fox News, and its O&O local TV stations.

Comcast chief Brian Roberts, NBCUniversal CEO Jeff Shell and other division leaders at Comcast will donate their salaries to coronavirus-related relief efforts as the world grapples with the devastating pandemic.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion Monday that sends the racial discrimination case filed by entrepreneur Byron Allen back to an appellate court with a stricter definition of the bias that Allen needs to prove in order for the lawsuit to proceed in federal court.

The International Olympics Committee will take a month to decide whether the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics could proceed as planned, given the global spread of coronavirus, a move that would potentially wreak havoc on the fortunes of hundreds of athletes, the media industry and the plans of many big-spending advertisers.

Hulu is at long last coming to Comcast Cable customers’ set-top boxes. But the cable operator’s distribution pact with Disney — which now controls Hulu — covers access only to the video-on-demand portion of the service, not the Hulu + Live TV package given that Comcast offers its own TV bundles.

At least 69 U.S. cable and telecommunications companies have pledged to not cut off broadband or telephone service for the next 60 days to any customers — even if they’re unable to pay their bills — as the country reels from the coronavirus pandemic.

With the U.S. reeling from the novel coronavirus pandemic — and as many people are being forced to work from home temporarily — Comcast is expanding its broadband service for low-income families to provide free access for 60 days and increasing speeds.

Sky Studios and Italy’s The Apartment, the Fremantle-owned production company headed by Lorenzo Mieli, have forged a multi-year development and production partnership that marks Sky’s first agreement of this type outside the U.K.

U.K. pay-TV broadcaster Sky says its efforts to improve diversity on screen are paying off, but that it has more to do to improve the representation of black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) writers.

Comcast’s pay TV service Sky is adding two new channels to its U.K. portfolio, the company announced on Monday.

“Cats,” the musical movie that bombed at the box office, scratched away at Comcast’s fourth-quarter earnings, even as overall profits soared 26 percent.

Comcast said net income in the fourth quarter rose 26% due in large part to increases in the number of subscribers to its digital services, even as it continued to lose traditional pay-TV subscribers and NBCUniversal’s “Cats” movie failed to do bigger business at the box office.

The company known for American news staples like “Today” and “Meet The Press” wants to create similar journalism landmarks for audiences around the world.

Comcast confirmed plans to launch a global news platform with Sky News at the launch of its highly anticipated streaming offering Peacock.

In the big unveiling Thursday on the “Saturday Night Live” stage at 30 Rock, NBCUniversal leaders described Peacock as a 21st century iteration of a broadcast network.

ViacomCBS Networks and Comcast-owned pay-TV Sky Italia have announced a new multi-year deal that expands and extends their collaboration in Italy.