1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,480 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:14,560 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio, 4 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:21,239 Speaker 1: and how the tech are you? It is time for 5 00:00:21,480 --> 00:00:25,480 Speaker 1: a tech Stuff classic episode. This episode is called the 6 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: Comcast Story Heart one. I bet you can't guess what 7 00:00:30,680 --> 00:00:34,919 Speaker 1: next week's is called. This episode originally published on November four, 8 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:38,159 Speaker 1: two thousand and fifteen. It is of course covering the 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:45,280 Speaker 1: cable company Comcast, which had an interesting growth period. Uh 10 00:00:45,520 --> 00:00:48,320 Speaker 1: and now, of course things are at a point where 11 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: Comcast is kind of reaching a saturation point and requires 12 00:00:52,800 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 1: other sources of revenue besides expanding into new markets. But 13 00:00:57,880 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 1: we'll cover some of that in part two and clear 14 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:03,680 Speaker 1: this is one of those episodes where I could do 15 00:01:03,760 --> 00:01:06,680 Speaker 1: an update because you know, two thousand fifteen to two 16 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: thousand twenty two, we've been seeing a lot of changes 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,400 Speaker 1: in the cable space, not so much the I s 18 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:21,400 Speaker 1: P space, but definitely cable provider space. So I'll probably 19 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:23,360 Speaker 1: touch on that again by the end of the episode, 20 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: but first let's listen to Part one, recorded and published 21 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 1: on November four, two thousand fifteen. So the reason why 22 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: I wanted to look at this. The thing that that 23 00:01:34,560 --> 00:01:38,560 Speaker 1: kind of spurred me into talking about Comcast actually comes 24 00:01:38,600 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 1: from a recent experience I had. So I'm recording this 25 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:46,920 Speaker 1: on Thursday, the twenty two of October two thousand fifteen. 26 00:01:46,959 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 1: But on Monday, October nineteen, something special happened and I 27 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:55,480 Speaker 1: wanted to take part in it. That's something special was 28 00:01:55,920 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: that Star Wars episode seven, the Force Awaitkins the the 29 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:04,320 Speaker 1: advanced tickets went on sale, and it was announced that 30 00:02:04,320 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: they went on sale a little earlier than what people 31 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:11,519 Speaker 1: had originally anticipated. So I rushed to try and buy tickets, 32 00:02:12,320 --> 00:02:15,840 Speaker 1: and one of the many things I tried to do 33 00:02:16,040 --> 00:02:19,880 Speaker 1: was use Fandango. But it was very clear that there 34 00:02:19,919 --> 00:02:24,720 Speaker 1: was an amazingly huge rush on tickets for the Fandango servers, 35 00:02:24,760 --> 00:02:28,919 Speaker 1: as well as all the other services out there, and 36 00:02:29,040 --> 00:02:32,799 Speaker 1: so you could say that the servers for Fandango weren't 37 00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:36,760 Speaker 1: fully operational in the parlance of Star Wars, and I 38 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: started getting irritated. But then I remembered that Fandango is 39 00:02:40,760 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: owned by Comcast, and then I thought, anger leads to hate. 40 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:50,440 Speaker 1: Hate leads to podcasts. But I promise I will do 41 00:02:50,520 --> 00:02:53,680 Speaker 1: my best to remain objective and dispassionate as we look 42 00:02:53,720 --> 00:02:55,799 Speaker 1: at the company, its history and the role it plays 43 00:02:55,840 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: in their entertainment. And it's a really long history too. 44 00:03:00,320 --> 00:03:03,920 Speaker 1: So before I talked about Comcast in particular, let me 45 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:08,000 Speaker 1: set the stage with some history about cable television. Now. 46 00:03:08,040 --> 00:03:11,000 Speaker 1: Cable tv got its start back in the nineteen forties 47 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:13,360 Speaker 1: in the United States, and there was a need for 48 00:03:13,400 --> 00:03:17,160 Speaker 1: an alternative to over the air broadcasts because some people 49 00:03:17,200 --> 00:03:19,920 Speaker 1: lived in remote locations that were too far away for 50 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,560 Speaker 1: over the air air waves to make it to their 51 00:03:22,600 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: homes with any sort of fidelity, or they might live 52 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: in areas where radio waves had trouble reaching, like in 53 00:03:28,520 --> 00:03:32,800 Speaker 1: mountainous areas where a mountain might be blocking the radio waves. 54 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:35,720 Speaker 1: So cable TV was the solution, and the basic model 55 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: was pretty simple in its design. In fact, the earliest 56 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,880 Speaker 1: models just involved people setting up an antenna on a 57 00:03:42,920 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: really tall structure or a mountain or something like that, 58 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:50,560 Speaker 1: and then physically running a cable from the antenna to 59 00:03:50,680 --> 00:03:54,040 Speaker 1: their television sets. But beyond that you started to get 60 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: actual organized businesses that would do this on behalf of customers. You, 61 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: as a customer, would pay the business for the access 62 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: to these over the way air broadcast that otherwise you 63 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:06,680 Speaker 1: would not be able to reach. So you would have 64 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:10,000 Speaker 1: a broadcast station that would send out television along a 65 00:04:10,040 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: certain channel or frequency of radio waves, and your cable 66 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:17,440 Speaker 1: station would essentially just be a set of receivers antenna 67 00:04:17,440 --> 00:04:20,320 Speaker 1: in other words, which would pick up these broadcasts and 68 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:24,040 Speaker 1: then feed them through physical cables to their destinations. So 69 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: early cable was still very much reliant on over the 70 00:04:27,240 --> 00:04:29,840 Speaker 1: air broadcast. It was just an alternative way to get 71 00:04:29,880 --> 00:04:34,680 Speaker 1: that content, and channels don't take up much bandwidth on 72 00:04:34,880 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: a physical cable. Each channel is six mega hurts, and 73 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:41,920 Speaker 1: a cable is capable of holding hundreds of mega hurts 74 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: of signals, and using compression, you can even send multiple 75 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,760 Speaker 1: stations down a single six mega hurts channel, So you 76 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:52,520 Speaker 1: can blast a huge amount of channels through a single cable, 77 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,160 Speaker 1: and the cable box or television at the other end 78 00:04:55,160 --> 00:04:58,719 Speaker 1: of that cable can tune into specific channels and block 79 00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:01,960 Speaker 1: all the others out. In other words, imagine that you 80 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,640 Speaker 1: are in a room and there's every actor you've ever 81 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: known about in that room, and they're all acting their 82 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,599 Speaker 1: hearts out at you at the same time. But you 83 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:14,720 Speaker 1: have the ability to tune into a specific actor and 84 00:05:14,800 --> 00:05:18,039 Speaker 1: tune out everybody else. That's basically what's going on with 85 00:05:18,160 --> 00:05:22,400 Speaker 1: cable on a technological level. And when you opt into 86 00:05:22,440 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: a cable bundle, often that means that you're also getting 87 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: the cable company to decrypt uh information. So what's happening 88 00:05:30,800 --> 00:05:33,960 Speaker 1: on the cable side, the cable operator side, is that 89 00:05:34,000 --> 00:05:38,920 Speaker 1: they will encrypt certain channels, like pay channels that otherwise 90 00:05:39,080 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: you would get for free. If you didn't have that encryption, 91 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,000 Speaker 1: then you, as a customer would be able to access 92 00:05:47,120 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: everything a cable channel operator had to offer. But by 93 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:55,520 Speaker 1: encrypting it, then the cable company can control which channels 94 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 1: you can actually view and which ones are off limits. 95 00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,080 Speaker 1: When you opt in to a cable bundle, like you 96 00:06:02,080 --> 00:06:05,680 Speaker 1: you subscribe to a specific cable service, they essentially send 97 00:06:05,680 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: a message to your television or a cable box and 98 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 1: that allows you to decrypt the signal on your end 99 00:06:10,640 --> 00:06:13,919 Speaker 1: so that you can actually watch it. And the United States, 100 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,159 Speaker 1: communities in Pennsylvania, Oregon, and Arkansas were among the first 101 00:06:19,360 --> 00:06:21,799 Speaker 1: to receive cable service, and by that I mean people 102 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: were actually going out and setting up these antenna By 103 00:06:25,080 --> 00:06:29,720 Speaker 1: nineteen fifty two, there are about seventy actual cable systems 104 00:06:29,800 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: in the entire country, So these were actual companies that 105 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,880 Speaker 1: had taken the same sort of model that these enterprising 106 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,320 Speaker 1: individuals had followed and actually made a business out of it. 107 00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:44,800 Speaker 1: They only had about fourteen thousand customers back in nineteen 108 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,599 Speaker 1: fifty two. But cable television had a big advantage over 109 00:06:48,680 --> 00:06:52,279 Speaker 1: home antennas in that if you use a sophisticate antenna 110 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: and you were able to put it on a really 111 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: tall building or a mountain or some other really tall structure, 112 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:02,120 Speaker 1: you could pick up signals from further away than folks 113 00:07:02,120 --> 00:07:05,719 Speaker 1: who are just using regular rabbit ears on their televisions, 114 00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,720 Speaker 1: which meant that cable customers sometimes could pick up signals 115 00:07:09,800 --> 00:07:13,760 Speaker 1: from other broadcast regions, so you might be able to 116 00:07:13,800 --> 00:07:18,320 Speaker 1: get content from multiple large cities. If you lived kind 117 00:07:18,320 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: of in between two big cities and you had this cable, 118 00:07:22,200 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: it might mean that you were able to double your 119 00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: programming options. At least. It may be that, you know, 120 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,560 Speaker 1: the two affiliates of of a major broadcast station are 121 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,800 Speaker 1: showing more or less the same thing, but throughout the 122 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,720 Speaker 1: day you would have some different options available to you, 123 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: which made cable fairly attractive. It was sort of the 124 00:07:41,240 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 1: beginning of cable's advantage over over the air broadcast, although, 125 00:07:46,960 --> 00:07:48,680 Speaker 1: as we'll talk about a little bit later, over the 126 00:07:48,680 --> 00:07:53,239 Speaker 1: air still had a lot of other advantages. So interest 127 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: in cable TV began to grow, particularly among people who 128 00:07:57,360 --> 00:08:02,120 Speaker 1: just couldn't get over the air easily. By nineteen sixty two, 129 00:08:02,160 --> 00:08:04,680 Speaker 1: the number of customers had grown to more than eight 130 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: hundred thousand people in the United States, So in ten 131 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:11,200 Speaker 1: years it went from fourteen thousand customers to eight hundred 132 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:15,440 Speaker 1: thousand in the US. Cable TV was becoming a viable alternative, 133 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: even in communities that didn't have problems accessing over the 134 00:08:19,120 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: year signals. But it was also one of those things 135 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:24,000 Speaker 1: that cities were starting to look into because if you 136 00:08:24,080 --> 00:08:26,440 Speaker 1: lived in a city with lots of high rise buildings, 137 00:08:26,480 --> 00:08:29,840 Speaker 1: sometimes that would block radio signals too. So it was 138 00:08:29,880 --> 00:08:32,400 Speaker 1: one of those things that that you could see the 139 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: the benefit, the potential application, but it was still going 140 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:40,880 Speaker 1: to be really expensive to roll out the infrastructure. All right, Well, 141 00:08:40,880 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: that that sets the groundwork for what the cable industry 142 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:46,160 Speaker 1: was like in the early sixties. Let's take a look 143 00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:51,680 Speaker 1: at Comcast specifically. The company actually traces its history back 144 00:08:51,720 --> 00:08:56,680 Speaker 1: to nineteen sixty three. That's when Ralph J. Roberts, Daniel 145 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: Aaron and Julian A. Broad Ski purchased a small cable 146 00:09:01,040 --> 00:09:06,880 Speaker 1: TV operator called American Cable Systems, which was in Tupelo, Mississippi, 147 00:09:07,200 --> 00:09:10,439 Speaker 1: and that service had just one thousand, two hundred subscribers 148 00:09:11,000 --> 00:09:14,280 Speaker 1: and that was it. The three businessmen spent five hundred 149 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:19,640 Speaker 1: thousand dollars on that purchase. So who were these guys? Well, 150 00:09:19,720 --> 00:09:23,440 Speaker 1: Ralph J. Roberts grew up in New York and in Philadelphia. 151 00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,559 Speaker 1: He served in the United States Navy before going on 152 00:09:26,640 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: to work several different jobs. He gradually earned enough money 153 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:32,360 Speaker 1: to purchase a business of his own. He and his 154 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:34,960 Speaker 1: brother went into a business they invested in, a company 155 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:39,319 Speaker 1: called Pioneer Suspender Company. Turns out there was money in 156 00:09:39,400 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: Suspenders because he and his brother decided to sell the 157 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,960 Speaker 1: business off later on, and with that money it allowed 158 00:09:47,000 --> 00:09:50,480 Speaker 1: them to invest in other companies. So Ralph Roberts ended 159 00:09:50,559 --> 00:09:54,480 Speaker 1: up looking into the world of TV, and it was 160 00:09:54,559 --> 00:09:58,960 Speaker 1: reportedly Roberts who came up with a name Comcast. In 161 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,320 Speaker 1: ninet lines of several years down the road, he would 162 00:10:02,320 --> 00:10:05,880 Speaker 1: combine the words communications and broadcast together to create the 163 00:10:05,960 --> 00:10:09,360 Speaker 1: name Comcast, and he would serve as Comcast Chief executive 164 00:10:09,360 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: Officer for more than four decades. Uh Ralph J. Roberts 165 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:16,360 Speaker 1: passed away in June of two thousand and fifteen, so 166 00:10:16,480 --> 00:10:20,680 Speaker 1: very recently as of the recording of this podcast. Now. 167 00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:25,880 Speaker 1: Daniel Aharon was born in nineteen twenty six in Giessen, Germany. 168 00:10:25,920 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 1: His family escaped Germany during the rise of the Nazi 169 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:32,160 Speaker 1: Party in World War Two and they settled in Queens, 170 00:10:32,280 --> 00:10:36,080 Speaker 1: New York. Now. Tragically, when he was just thirteen years old, 171 00:10:36,120 --> 00:10:39,120 Speaker 1: he lost his mother. She committed suicide, and less than 172 00:10:39,160 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: a month later, his father also committed suicide. Daniel Aaron 173 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:45,960 Speaker 1: was orphaned and he was not yet a citizen. He 174 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:49,600 Speaker 1: continued to live in New York and eventually he would 175 00:10:49,600 --> 00:10:52,760 Speaker 1: be drafted and sent to Germany during World War Two. 176 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:56,520 Speaker 1: When he returned, he pursued a career in journalism and 177 00:10:56,640 --> 00:11:01,320 Speaker 1: public relations. Eventually he entered the cable business and that's 178 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:05,359 Speaker 1: when he met Roberts and agreed to co found Comcast. 179 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,040 Speaker 1: In his obituary, he was referred to as the conscience 180 00:11:09,200 --> 00:11:14,000 Speaker 1: of the company, famously even buying coffee for picketing employees 181 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 1: who were in a labor dispute with Comcast. So he 182 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: was sort of the working man's representative among the three 183 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,160 Speaker 1: co founders of this company. He passed away in two 184 00:11:25,200 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: thousand three. We'll be back with more of Comcast's history 185 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: after this quick break. Julian Brodsky grew up in Philadelphia. 186 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: He had served in the United States Army and he 187 00:11:45,800 --> 00:11:49,760 Speaker 1: became an accountant after he left the service. So Bronsky 188 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:54,040 Speaker 1: served as Robert's accountant, Ralph J. Roberts. So he was 189 00:11:54,080 --> 00:11:57,640 Speaker 1: actually the accountant for Ralph J. Roberts, and was approached 190 00:11:57,679 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 1: by Roberts and by Aaron when they were preparing to 191 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:05,520 Speaker 1: purchase this company, this little cable company in Tiple of Mississippi, 192 00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: and Brodsky's main role was to raise money for the company. 193 00:12:09,679 --> 00:12:13,120 Speaker 1: In two thousand eleven, Brodsky retired as the vice chairman 194 00:12:13,280 --> 00:12:15,680 Speaker 1: of the company, and of the three founders, he is 195 00:12:15,679 --> 00:12:17,680 Speaker 1: the only one who is still alive as of the 196 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:22,240 Speaker 1: recording of this podcast. Now. Daniel Aaron is credited with 197 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:26,240 Speaker 1: having compared the three co founders as three people trying 198 00:12:26,280 --> 00:12:29,439 Speaker 1: to drive a single car, and he said that Brodsky 199 00:12:29,600 --> 00:12:31,920 Speaker 1: was the guy who had his foot on the accelerator 200 00:12:31,960 --> 00:12:35,800 Speaker 1: as he was raising capital for the venture. Uh, Meanwhile, 201 00:12:35,840 --> 00:12:38,320 Speaker 1: his own foot, Aaron, his own foot was on the 202 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: break to make sure the company was a good corporate citizen, 203 00:12:41,679 --> 00:12:44,199 Speaker 1: stepping on the brakes to slow down the company if 204 00:12:44,200 --> 00:12:46,800 Speaker 1: he thought that they were about to do something reckless 205 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,600 Speaker 1: or damaging or or just unethical. And meanwhile, or alf 206 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:54,920 Speaker 1: Day Roberts, his hands were on the steering wheel, guiding 207 00:12:54,920 --> 00:12:58,760 Speaker 1: the company along. In those early days of cable, the 208 00:12:58,760 --> 00:13:03,559 Speaker 1: company faced some pretty big challenges. According to the founders, 209 00:13:03,600 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: they actually had to act as door to door salespeople 210 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,920 Speaker 1: on occasion in an effort to grow. So they were 211 00:13:10,000 --> 00:13:14,600 Speaker 1: physically going out knocking on people's doors and telling them 212 00:13:14,640 --> 00:13:17,920 Speaker 1: about cable service. In an effort to get more customers. 213 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:21,880 Speaker 1: They came to the conclusion that expansion would require purchasing 214 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:25,680 Speaker 1: other cable companies. And this is a philosophy that Comcast 215 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: has stuck with time and time again over its long history. 216 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:34,240 Speaker 1: They have purchased numerous companies that I will go into 217 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:39,319 Speaker 1: in some detail throughout these two episodes. Now, originally they 218 00:13:39,360 --> 00:13:43,000 Speaker 1: focused on other cable services in the state of Mississippi. 219 00:13:43,360 --> 00:13:46,240 Speaker 1: So they began to expand both in eastern and western 220 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: Mississippi and really focused on that state, but they were 221 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: still finding it difficult to get enough customers to make 222 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:55,400 Speaker 1: a profit after going through the expense of setting up 223 00:13:55,400 --> 00:13:59,600 Speaker 1: and maintaining cable systems. So, in other words, they're operating 224 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,480 Speaker 1: expenses were too close to the amount of money they 225 00:14:02,480 --> 00:14:06,880 Speaker 1: were bringing in. It wasn't really a fast growing company. 226 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:10,079 Speaker 1: It wasn't a fast growing business, and they were trying 227 00:14:10,080 --> 00:14:13,560 Speaker 1: to find new ways to add to that as quickly 228 00:14:13,600 --> 00:14:18,360 Speaker 1: as they possibly could. In the company, which at that 229 00:14:18,400 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: point was still known as American Cable Systems, purchased another 230 00:14:22,280 --> 00:14:27,360 Speaker 1: company called Storecast Corporation of America. Here's the difference. Though 231 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:30,960 Speaker 1: Storecast was not a cable service company, it was a 232 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:33,760 Speaker 1: marketing firm. And only was it a marketing firm, it 233 00:14:33,840 --> 00:14:36,760 Speaker 1: was a marketing firm that had a very specific kind 234 00:14:36,760 --> 00:14:40,840 Speaker 1: of clientele. They were chiefly known for helping food companies 235 00:14:40,920 --> 00:14:45,760 Speaker 1: work with supermarkets to maximize sales prices are sales of 236 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:49,360 Speaker 1: the products, by placing those products in prominent locations. In 237 00:14:49,360 --> 00:14:53,240 Speaker 1: other words, they would go into a supermarket on behalf 238 00:14:53,400 --> 00:14:57,000 Speaker 1: of a client. Let's say wonder Bread. I'm just taking 239 00:14:57,000 --> 00:15:00,000 Speaker 1: that as a random example. I don't know if wonder 240 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:02,280 Speaker 1: Bread was actually one of their clients. But let's say 241 00:15:02,280 --> 00:15:05,240 Speaker 1: they go into a supermarket. They're representing Wonderbread, and they 242 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:07,880 Speaker 1: go to the bread aisle and they look around and 243 00:15:07,920 --> 00:15:11,720 Speaker 1: they say, well, this is not great for our client. 244 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,480 Speaker 1: We recommend you move this to this shelf. You're gonna 245 00:15:15,480 --> 00:15:18,640 Speaker 1: move more product this way. You're gonna increase your sales. 246 00:15:18,800 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: Our client will be happy, you'll be happy. That's the 247 00:15:21,400 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: kind of work they were mostly known for doing. So 248 00:15:24,400 --> 00:15:28,000 Speaker 1: a little odd that Comcast, or at that time, American 249 00:15:28,080 --> 00:15:32,320 Speaker 1: Cable Systems would purchase this type of company. Comcast continued 250 00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:35,680 Speaker 1: to try and grow through acquisitions during this time, and 251 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:40,200 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty six, Ralph J. Roberts turned his attention 252 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:43,480 Speaker 1: to Philadelphia. Keep in mind, that's one of the cities 253 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:45,600 Speaker 1: he grew up in New York and Philadelphia is where 254 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: he spent in his childhood, and he bought cable systems 255 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: that were serving the suburbs of Philadelphia, and later on 256 00:15:52,680 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: he would also purchase a few that we're serving western Pennsylvania. 257 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,880 Speaker 1: Philadelphia is in the east part of Pennsylvania. He then 258 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 1: again to expand that service into neighboring communities and an 259 00:16:03,160 --> 00:16:06,560 Speaker 1: effort to scale up operations so instead of just acquiring 260 00:16:06,560 --> 00:16:09,400 Speaker 1: cable businesses, he was actually trying to lay out the 261 00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:14,840 Speaker 1: infrastructure to connect these various areas and scale up the 262 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: entire operation, kind of consolidating them. In nineteen sixty eight, 263 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 1: they would make another slightly weird purchase Comcast or or 264 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 1: American Cable System still at that time, bought a Musaic 265 00:16:28,160 --> 00:16:34,000 Speaker 1: franchise in Orlando, Florida. You're probably aware of music. Music 266 00:16:34,120 --> 00:16:37,120 Speaker 1: if you're if you never directly experienced it, you definitely 267 00:16:37,120 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: have probable. I'm guessing you've heard the term music is 268 00:16:40,480 --> 00:16:45,520 Speaker 1: a company that would create and distribute very soothing music, 269 00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:50,120 Speaker 1: sometimes very soothing versions of popular songs that would play 270 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:53,480 Speaker 1: in the background of things like elevators and grocery stores 271 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,240 Speaker 1: and you know other places, dentist office, that kind of 272 00:16:57,280 --> 00:17:01,320 Speaker 1: stuff where it's supposed to, you know, lull you and 273 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,640 Speaker 1: relax you. And it often makes me angry because often 274 00:17:05,680 --> 00:17:08,600 Speaker 1: I can recognize the original song that the music is doing, 275 00:17:08,680 --> 00:17:11,560 Speaker 1: and it doesn't necessarily make me happy to hear it 276 00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:17,600 Speaker 1: in a very laid back kind of approach at any rate, 277 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:23,040 Speaker 1: they wanted to purchase a franchise in Orlando, Florida, and 278 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,439 Speaker 1: one of the reasons this might be the case is 279 00:17:25,480 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 1: because Ralph Roberts's brother, Joe, was an executive vice president 280 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,879 Speaker 1: of the Music Corporation, which might raise a few eyebrows 281 00:17:34,920 --> 00:17:38,240 Speaker 1: today that two brothers are essentially doing business with one 282 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 1: another and doing acquisitions of companies, one selling to the other, 283 00:17:42,800 --> 00:17:46,879 Speaker 1: But at any rate, that's what happened in Night In. 284 00:17:48,400 --> 00:17:51,680 Speaker 1: The company finally changed his changes its name to Comcast 285 00:17:52,080 --> 00:17:57,800 Speaker 1: and reincorporates, this time in Pennsylvania. In nineteen seventy, the 286 00:17:57,840 --> 00:18:02,160 Speaker 1: company reorganized so it's so off It's Florida Operations, which 287 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: had just bought two years earlier to another company called 288 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,480 Speaker 1: STORER Communications, which will come back into play a little 289 00:18:09,560 --> 00:18:14,240 Speaker 1: later in the episode. And Comcast began to expand into 290 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:18,360 Speaker 1: other markets, primarily Maryland at that point, and also explored 291 00:18:18,359 --> 00:18:23,760 Speaker 1: options and limited partnerships rather than outright acquisitions, which gave 292 00:18:24,200 --> 00:18:28,280 Speaker 1: the company a bit of an advantage in that through 293 00:18:28,280 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: a limited partnership, Comcast could get access to customers but 294 00:18:32,359 --> 00:18:35,800 Speaker 1: not have to commit so much of its operating funds 295 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:38,800 Speaker 1: to expand the company, and this way it would allow 296 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:42,280 Speaker 1: the company to grow without having to spend millions of 297 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:46,520 Speaker 1: dollars acquiring other cable systems although it's still pursued that 298 00:18:46,600 --> 00:18:50,080 Speaker 1: as well, and the music party continued. At the same time, 299 00:18:50,200 --> 00:18:54,080 Speaker 1: Comcast bought franchises and multiple cities like Detroit, San Diego, 300 00:18:54,240 --> 00:19:00,400 Speaker 1: and Hartford, Connecticut. By Nino, Comcast was a to hold 301 00:19:00,440 --> 00:19:03,720 Speaker 1: an initial public offering was able to launch as a 302 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:08,520 Speaker 1: publicly traded company. Stocks were traded on the NASDAK stock 303 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:12,240 Speaker 1: market and the ticker symbol was c m c s A, 304 00:19:13,400 --> 00:19:16,840 Speaker 1: and it continued to grow. It would acquire smaller cable 305 00:19:16,840 --> 00:19:19,600 Speaker 1: companies and incorporate them into its own service, and the 306 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,240 Speaker 1: company spread across the United States using these sort of acquisitions, 307 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: but it was still finding it challenging to penetrate markets 308 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,879 Speaker 1: through other means. In other words, they were having trouble 309 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:34,480 Speaker 1: selling the idea of subscribing to Comcast. They found it 310 00:19:34,520 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 1: easier to purchase the cable systems people were already using 311 00:19:37,960 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: and then lump them under Comcast, and thus the people 312 00:19:41,720 --> 00:19:45,760 Speaker 1: became Comcast customers by default. It wasn't necessarily that they 313 00:19:45,840 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: chose Comcast, but rather that the company they had been 314 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:54,800 Speaker 1: a customer of before now belonged to Comcast, and that 315 00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: also included expanding its hold on music. By nineteen seventy three, 316 00:19:59,040 --> 00:20:04,679 Speaker 1: Comcasts Music Network division was the largest independent musach operator. 317 00:20:05,119 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: So music operates under a franchise system, which means that 318 00:20:09,440 --> 00:20:11,919 Speaker 1: when Comcast would buy up a franchise would buy up 319 00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:16,600 Speaker 1: one region and other franchises would remain independent of Comcast. 320 00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,359 Speaker 1: But Comcast kept on doing this and thus became the 321 00:20:19,400 --> 00:20:22,919 Speaker 1: largest independent musaic operator. So if you're a child of 322 00:20:22,920 --> 00:20:26,119 Speaker 1: the early seventies and wondered where that easy listening music 323 00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:30,680 Speaker 1: came from, there are good odds that Comcast was ultimately responsible. 324 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:36,560 Speaker 1: And also in nineteen seventy four, Ralph Roberts's son Brian 325 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:42,160 Speaker 1: started working at Comcast officially uh specifically working for Storecast 326 00:20:42,280 --> 00:20:45,399 Speaker 1: as an intern, and by the following year he would 327 00:20:45,400 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: start training as a cable installer, which included home installations 328 00:20:49,560 --> 00:20:54,240 Speaker 1: and climbing poles to hook connections from drops to the 329 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,680 Speaker 1: home the home area, and by three he would become 330 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: the general manager of the Trenton system for Comcast, and 331 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,119 Speaker 1: by four he would become vice president of Operations for 332 00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 1: the cable division. So within a decade of starting to 333 00:21:09,520 --> 00:21:13,199 Speaker 1: work for the company officially, there are some reports that 334 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: say that Brian Roberts was working at Comcast when he 335 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: was just seven years old, which brings into questions some 336 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:23,399 Speaker 1: child labor laws, But at any rate, he within a 337 00:21:23,480 --> 00:21:26,399 Speaker 1: decade he would go from intern to vice president of 338 00:21:26,440 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: operations with a cable division. And uh, this also raised 339 00:21:30,800 --> 00:21:33,000 Speaker 1: some questions because I mean, he's the son of one 340 00:21:33,000 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: of the founders, so there's a little bit of legacy 341 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:39,159 Speaker 1: issue going on here. But he consistently showed that he 342 00:21:39,240 --> 00:21:41,680 Speaker 1: was very dedicated to the company, so I don't mean 343 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:45,720 Speaker 1: to suggest that he didn't deserve this position. He certainly 344 00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,080 Speaker 1: has been a great deal maker for Comcast and has 345 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: led the company to some massive, massive business deals that 346 00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,960 Speaker 1: we'll talk about in a second. But uh, it's still 347 00:21:56,040 --> 00:22:00,160 Speaker 1: raised some eyebrows in the community of cable industry. We've 348 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: got more to say about comcasts early history. After this 349 00:22:04,000 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 1: commercial break in nineteen seventy six, the co founder, Daniel Aharon, 350 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: would become the chairman of the National Cable and Television Association, 351 00:22:22,880 --> 00:22:25,679 Speaker 1: which is essentially a lobby group. It's it's kind of 352 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:31,320 Speaker 1: an advocacy group for cable companies, cable industry, cable service providers, 353 00:22:32,000 --> 00:22:35,399 Speaker 1: and was really focused on helping shape policy in the 354 00:22:35,480 --> 00:22:40,800 Speaker 1: United States that would remove challenges obstacles and restrictions facing 355 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,960 Speaker 1: the cable industry, and in some cases these were restrictions 356 00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 1: that were entirely arbitrary and unfair. I don't mean to 357 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,919 Speaker 1: suggest that they were working to completely leverage everything so 358 00:22:50,960 --> 00:22:56,120 Speaker 1: that cable companies could dominate all telecommunications industries, but rather 359 00:22:56,359 --> 00:23:00,920 Speaker 1: to try and address some problems that the cable industry face. 360 00:23:01,040 --> 00:23:03,640 Speaker 1: Because it was brand new, this was something, I mean 361 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:06,600 Speaker 1: even even by the seventies, this was still relatively new 362 00:23:07,080 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: and still uh something that had to battle with much 363 00:23:10,280 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 1: more entrenched systems like the telephone companies and the over 364 00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:20,600 Speaker 1: the air broadcast companies. Also in nineteen seventy seven, Comcast 365 00:23:20,680 --> 00:23:24,879 Speaker 1: would add HBO to twenty thousand customers in Pennsylvania with 366 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:31,120 Speaker 1: a five night preview, so customers got five nights free HBO, 367 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:35,360 Speaker 1: which was a fledgling company at that point, and afterward, 368 00:23:35,880 --> 00:23:40,320 Speaker 1: Comcast received three thousand subscription orders once the preview period end, 369 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,840 Speaker 1: so it was a fairly successful preview. And if you 370 00:23:44,920 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: listen to the story of HBO, which I believe was 371 00:23:48,240 --> 00:23:52,080 Speaker 1: a three part episode that that I did, it's at 372 00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 1: least two parts at the new rate, but I did 373 00:23:53,960 --> 00:23:56,000 Speaker 1: that quite a while ago. If you go and look 374 00:23:56,040 --> 00:23:59,160 Speaker 1: at the Tech Stuff archives, you can find the HBO 375 00:23:59,280 --> 00:24:02,480 Speaker 1: story where we talk a little more about how HBO 376 00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:07,160 Speaker 1: also really shaped the cable industry as it became more 377 00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:13,639 Speaker 1: and more important. In night Daniel Aaron would become UH. 378 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:15,920 Speaker 1: He would use his position as the Chairman of the 379 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:19,880 Speaker 1: National Cable Television Association or in c t A UH 380 00:24:19,920 --> 00:24:23,159 Speaker 1: and successfully lobby the United States government to reduce restrictions 381 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:26,439 Speaker 1: on what cable operators could carry. So up to that point, 382 00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:29,240 Speaker 1: there had been some limitations on some of the programming 383 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 1: that cable operators could offer their customers, and often this 384 00:24:33,359 --> 00:24:36,760 Speaker 1: was programming that their customers actually wanted access to, but 385 00:24:36,880 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: the cable operators their hands were tied. They were not 386 00:24:39,600 --> 00:24:43,199 Speaker 1: allowed by law to carry that programming. So the n 387 00:24:43,200 --> 00:24:46,000 Speaker 1: c t A was able to argue successfully on behalf 388 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,960 Speaker 1: of cable operators and even reach the point where cable 389 00:24:49,000 --> 00:24:52,080 Speaker 1: could offer up channels that weren't broadcast over the air, 390 00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: meaning that cable companies could now create or partner with 391 00:24:55,920 --> 00:25:00,280 Speaker 1: creators to provide content that otherwise people would never see 392 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,199 Speaker 1: because there'd be no other way of getting it. That 393 00:25:03,240 --> 00:25:06,640 Speaker 1: actually created a market advantage for cable over classic Over 394 00:25:06,680 --> 00:25:10,400 Speaker 1: the year broadcasts because now not only could you get 395 00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,280 Speaker 1: something that wasn't going to be affected by radio transmissions, 396 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:17,320 Speaker 1: but you could see content that would not be available 397 00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:20,679 Speaker 1: to you otherwise. And by nineteen seventy eight, Comcast earnings 398 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: were an excess of three million dollars, which is chicken 399 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:27,280 Speaker 1: feed compared to what they make today, but still was 400 00:25:27,320 --> 00:25:32,359 Speaker 1: impressive at the time, and Comcast made its first international 401 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:37,160 Speaker 1: move in nineteen eighty three they expanded into the United Kingdom. 402 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: The company was finding it increasingly difficult to acquire new 403 00:25:40,200 --> 00:25:42,280 Speaker 1: operations in the United States. At that time, there were 404 00:25:42,320 --> 00:25:46,280 Speaker 1: only a few major cable operators left that had not 405 00:25:46,400 --> 00:25:50,080 Speaker 1: been scooped up by one of the chief competitors to Comcast, 406 00:25:50,720 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: so that meant that there were only a few limited 407 00:25:52,960 --> 00:25:56,720 Speaker 1: service areas, meaning there was very little potential for growth 408 00:25:56,880 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: if Comcasts purchased those companies, and they were pretty expensive, 409 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: so it wasn't a very attractive investment on the part 410 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:06,879 Speaker 1: of Comcast. But on the other hand, in the United 411 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:10,120 Speaker 1: Kingdom was a totally different story. Cable operators had barely 412 00:26:10,240 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: touched the UK, so Comcast jumped on that opportunity. Meanwhile, 413 00:26:15,560 --> 00:26:18,240 Speaker 1: back in the States, Comcast caught a lucky break when 414 00:26:18,240 --> 00:26:22,240 Speaker 1: the United States government passed the Cable Act, which prevented 415 00:26:22,240 --> 00:26:26,199 Speaker 1: telephone companies from entering the cable business, which was a 416 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:28,760 Speaker 1: stroke of luck for Comcast because the government had just 417 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,520 Speaker 1: broken up the Bell system, which you can hear about 418 00:26:32,080 --> 00:26:34,560 Speaker 1: in our episodes on the History of A T and T, 419 00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:39,800 Speaker 1: another multi part series that explains why the telephone system 420 00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,840 Speaker 1: in the United States is the way it is and 421 00:26:41,880 --> 00:26:45,400 Speaker 1: how the telecommunications industry changed as a result of it. 422 00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: In Comcast would purchase twenty six percent interest in Group 423 00:26:51,680 --> 00:26:55,800 Speaker 1: W Cable Incorporated. Now that investment more than doubled the 424 00:26:55,920 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: number of Comcast customers at that time, adding one point 425 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:03,720 Speaker 1: two million people to Comcast services. And Comcast also helped 426 00:27:03,840 --> 00:27:09,040 Speaker 1: found a little shopping company called QVC and they invested 427 00:27:09,040 --> 00:27:12,199 Speaker 1: three d eighty million dollars in the founding of that company. 428 00:27:12,240 --> 00:27:15,680 Speaker 1: Now they did not own QVC, they owned an interest 429 00:27:15,760 --> 00:27:20,480 Speaker 1: in QVC. And another big buy at that time was 430 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:24,919 Speaker 1: STORER Communications Incorporated. You may have remembered that just a 431 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:28,520 Speaker 1: few minutes ago I talked about STORER Communications where uh 432 00:27:28,560 --> 00:27:32,480 Speaker 1: they There was the the buying of Musach and the 433 00:27:32,520 --> 00:27:38,440 Speaker 1: selling of Musach. While Comcast purchased fifty interest in STORER Communications, 434 00:27:38,880 --> 00:27:43,080 Speaker 1: in which propelled Comcast into fifth place among the largest 435 00:27:43,119 --> 00:27:46,720 Speaker 1: cable TV operators in the US. The company now had 436 00:27:46,760 --> 00:27:50,679 Speaker 1: two million subscribers, and that same year, Brian roberts was 437 00:27:50,720 --> 00:27:54,360 Speaker 1: elected to the board of directors of Comcasts, so now 438 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,160 Speaker 1: Ralph J. Roberts Son is on the board of directors. 439 00:27:57,600 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: Comcast would celebrate its twenty five years business and also 440 00:28:01,160 --> 00:28:07,439 Speaker 1: acquire the American Cellular Network Corporation or m CELL. This 441 00:28:07,480 --> 00:28:12,040 Speaker 1: creates a new division in the company called Comcast Cellular Communications, 442 00:28:12,280 --> 00:28:16,000 Speaker 1: and over the years the division grows as Comcast acquires 443 00:28:16,000 --> 00:28:20,440 Speaker 1: more cellular companies. And now we get to a complication, 444 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:23,000 Speaker 1: right because just a minute ago I talked about the 445 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,159 Speaker 1: Cable Act. It was an important point in the history 446 00:28:25,160 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: of cable and telephone service. The Cable Act prevented telephone 447 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,760 Speaker 1: companies from getting into the cable business, and cable companies 448 00:28:31,800 --> 00:28:36,480 Speaker 1: were likewise prevented into getting into landline telephone business. But 449 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: the blossoming cell phone service industry was a different story. 450 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:44,760 Speaker 1: So Comcast could totally get into cell phones and not 451 00:28:45,160 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 1: violate this restriction on landlines. So comcast acquisition marked the 452 00:28:50,280 --> 00:28:53,480 Speaker 1: first time people in the United States could look to 453 00:28:53,560 --> 00:29:00,000 Speaker 1: a non telephone company for phone service, which was massively important. 454 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: It's really hard to actually express what that meant at 455 00:29:05,400 --> 00:29:08,000 Speaker 1: the time, but keep in mind, like you have telephone 456 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:10,720 Speaker 1: companies that have been told, hey, you can't get into 457 00:29:11,120 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: this other industry because it's blossoming, it's just starting, and 458 00:29:15,720 --> 00:29:18,120 Speaker 1: we don't want to kill it before it gets a 459 00:29:18,200 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: chance to establish itself. Meanwhile, the other side is getting 460 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:26,239 Speaker 1: into a related business for the telephone industry, and so 461 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,000 Speaker 1: you now have these massive companies in the telephone industry 462 00:29:29,720 --> 00:29:33,480 Speaker 1: kind of scared about what's going to happen because they 463 00:29:33,560 --> 00:29:40,240 Speaker 1: have limited options at their disposal. Now, this is all 464 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,440 Speaker 1: pretty complex, but it's going to get super crazy when 465 00:29:43,440 --> 00:29:45,760 Speaker 1: I go on a little bit further. This is kind 466 00:29:45,760 --> 00:29:48,840 Speaker 1: of where I wanted to end part one to talk 467 00:29:48,880 --> 00:29:53,400 Speaker 1: about the possibilities that were ahead for Comcast. Now, one 468 00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:55,640 Speaker 1: of the things I want to really drive home, and 469 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:57,960 Speaker 1: it's going to become even more clear when you listen 470 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,040 Speaker 1: to the next episode, is that Comcast continuously chose to 471 00:30:03,240 --> 00:30:06,960 Speaker 1: acquire other companies in an effort to grow as a 472 00:30:07,000 --> 00:30:12,320 Speaker 1: publicly traded company. One of the most important uh measures 473 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:14,920 Speaker 1: of a company's success is how much did it grow 474 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:19,480 Speaker 1: year over year that that operating really well isn't enough. 475 00:30:19,520 --> 00:30:23,240 Speaker 1: A company has to grow to be considered valuable. And 476 00:30:23,280 --> 00:30:28,400 Speaker 1: the way Comcast largely drove its growth was through purchasing 477 00:30:28,680 --> 00:30:32,880 Speaker 1: other cable services. Again, it can be a challenge to 478 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:37,520 Speaker 1: add customers otherwise, So if you want to add customers, 479 00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:39,320 Speaker 1: you've got a couple of different options ahead of you, 480 00:30:39,440 --> 00:30:41,240 Speaker 1: but one of them is that you just buy up 481 00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:44,479 Speaker 1: other systems and then automatically you have those customers added 482 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: to you. Also, we were starting to see a world 483 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:54,640 Speaker 1: already where major cable companies were essentially making agreements with 484 00:30:54,720 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: one another to lay off in certain regions. So you 485 00:31:00,000 --> 00:31:03,000 Speaker 1: are starting to see where one cable company would provide 486 00:31:03,040 --> 00:31:07,000 Speaker 1: service to an area and other cable companies would stay 487 00:31:07,000 --> 00:31:10,440 Speaker 1: out of that area. In return, that first cable company 488 00:31:10,480 --> 00:31:14,600 Speaker 1: would stay out of its competitors areas, which was great 489 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,720 Speaker 1: for the companies but not so great for consumers. This 490 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,680 Speaker 1: is why in lots of different regions in the United States, 491 00:31:20,800 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: you really don't have many options as a customer. You 492 00:31:24,560 --> 00:31:28,520 Speaker 1: may have just a single major cable service provider in 493 00:31:28,560 --> 00:31:31,479 Speaker 1: your area, and you could look at something else like 494 00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,080 Speaker 1: satellite service, or you might be able to look at 495 00:31:34,160 --> 00:31:38,280 Speaker 1: smaller cable companies that are technically just piggybacking onto the 496 00:31:38,360 --> 00:31:41,760 Speaker 1: larger cable company in the first place. And that's one 497 00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:44,600 Speaker 1: of the big reasons why in Part two we're going 498 00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:49,960 Speaker 1: to explore some of the controversies around Comcast. But there's 499 00:31:50,040 --> 00:31:54,280 Speaker 1: tons of stuff to talk about in Part two, including 500 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: how Brian Roberts continued his rise and in Comcast, how 501 00:31:58,640 --> 00:32:02,000 Speaker 1: the founders kind of stepped awa a. All right, that 502 00:32:02,040 --> 00:32:04,920 Speaker 1: wraps up that classic episode. Next week we will continue 503 00:32:04,920 --> 00:32:09,200 Speaker 1: with the Comcast story Part two, which you know, again, 504 00:32:09,280 --> 00:32:11,320 Speaker 1: we could probably do a part three after that, and 505 00:32:11,400 --> 00:32:14,120 Speaker 1: maybe I will if you have suggestions for topics I 506 00:32:14,160 --> 00:32:16,120 Speaker 1: should cover on future episodes of tech Stuff. There a 507 00:32:16,160 --> 00:32:17,959 Speaker 1: couple of different ways you can reach out and let 508 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:20,880 Speaker 1: me know. One is to download the I Heart radio app. 509 00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: It's free to downloads free to use. Navigate over to 510 00:32:23,960 --> 00:32:26,360 Speaker 1: the tech Stuff page just search tech Stuff in the 511 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:28,920 Speaker 1: search bar. It'll bring you right to it and you'll 512 00:32:28,960 --> 00:32:31,520 Speaker 1: see that there's a little microphone icon. If you click 513 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:33,520 Speaker 1: on that, you can leave a voice message up to 514 00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:36,520 Speaker 1: thirty seconds in length. If you would rather not do that, 515 00:32:36,560 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: you can always reach out to me on Twitter the 516 00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:41,000 Speaker 1: handle that we use for the show is text Stuff 517 00:32:41,160 --> 00:32:44,160 Speaker 1: hs W. Just let me know what you would like 518 00:32:44,200 --> 00:32:46,280 Speaker 1: to hear on future episodes. I look forward to hearing 519 00:32:46,320 --> 00:32:49,280 Speaker 1: from you, and I'll talk to you again really soon. 520 00:32:55,160 --> 00:32:58,200 Speaker 1: Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. For more 521 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: podcasts from My Heart Radio, visit the I Heart Radio app, 522 00:33:01,800 --> 00:33:04,920 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. 523 00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:09,480 Speaker 1: H