Comcast Corp.’s history: A cable TV company that has gone from Tupelo to 30 Rock

A look at Comcast’s changes over the decades

Comcast Corp. dates back to 1963, when businessman Ralph Roberts got into the cable TV business in its early days. He spent $500,000 for American Cable Systems, a company in Tupelo, Miss., that strung up cable to carry TV broadcasts to homes that couldn’t get clear reception over the free airwaves.

Later the former New Yorker incorporated Comcast — named for “communications” and “broadcast” — closer to home in Pennsylvania, and expanded it by acquiring other cable TV providers. In 1990, Roberts’ son, Brian, became president. He accelerated the company’s expansion.

In 2002 Comcast spent $47.5 billion for AT&T’s cable division. Comcast now has 24 million subscribers in 39 states and Washington, D.C., and serves a quarter of the nation’s households with pay-TV service.

Under Brian Roberts, Comcast has not been content to be a mere distributor of programming. It has gained ownership of regional sports channels, the E! Entertainment network, the Philadelphia 76ers and the Philadelphia Flyers. It also has a stake in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer movie studio.

In 2004 Roberts made a dramatic stab at grabbing even more content: He launched a $54 billion hostile bid for Walt Disney Co. Disney blocked it. Comcast’s own shareholders didn’t show much pleasure with the idea, either.

Now by taking control of NBC Universal, Roberts would get another chance to achieve his dream of melding media content and distribution on a very large scale.