Comcast 2010 Annual Report Download - page 16

Table of Contents
Comcast 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-K
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and receives special and other fees from, Universal City
Development Partners, which owns Universal Studios Florida
and Universal’s Islands of Adventure.
Revenue from NBCUniversal’s theme parks business
depends primarily on theme park attendance; per capita
spending, which consists of ticket price and in-park spending
on food, beverage and merchandise; and management,
licensing and other fees.
Other Interests
NBCUniversal also has noncontrolling interests in certain
cable programming networks and related businesses,
including MSNBC.com (50% joint venture with Microsoft),
Hulu (32%), The Weather Channel (25%) and A&E
Television Networks LLC (16%), which owns and operates,
among other channels, A&E, The History Channel, The
Biography Channel and Lifetime.
Competition
The discussion below describes the competition facing our
Programming segment, our regional sports and news
networks, and the NBCUniversal contributed businesses.
Cable and Broadcast Networks
Our national cable programming networks, our regional
sports and news networks, and NBCUniversal’s cable
programming and broadcast networks and owned local
television stations compete for viewers’ attention and
audience share with all forms of programming provided to
viewers, including broadcast networks, local television
broadcast stations, pay and other cable networks, home
entertainment, pay-per-view and video services, online
activities, including Internet streaming and downloading and
websites providing social networking and user
-generated
content, and other forms of entertainment, news and
information services. In addition, our national cable
programming networks, our regional sports and news
networks, and NBCUniversal’s cable and broadcast networks
and owned local television stations compete for advertising
revenue with other national and local media, including other
television networks, television stations, online and mobile
outlets, radio stations and print media.
Our national cable programming networks, our regional
sports and news networks, and NBCUniversal’s cable
programming and broadcast networks and owned local
television stations also compete for the acquisition of
programming, including sports programming, as well as for
on-air and creative talent, with other cable and broadcast
networks and local television stations. The market for
programming is very competitive, particularly for sports
programming. NBC Sports has a programming rights
agreement with the NFL to produce and broadcast a
specified number of regular season and playoff games,
including NBC’s Sunday Night Football through the 2013-
2014 season, the 2012 Super Bowl and the 2012, 2013 and
2014 Pro Bowls. NBC Sports, Golf
Channel, VERSUS and our regional sports networks also
have rights of varying scope and duration to various sporting
events, including certain PGA TOUR Golf events and
National Hockey League (“NHL”) games. In addition, NBC
Sports has been the continuous home of the Summer
Olympic Games since 1988 and the Winter Olympic Games
since 2002. NBC Sports owns the broadcast rights for the
2012 London Olympic Games. There can be no assurance
whether NBC Sports will submit a bid to continue the rights
for the Olympics and whether any bid would be accepted by
the International Olympic Committee. In addition, the
production divisions of NBCUniversal’s businesses compete
with other production companies and creators of content for
the acquisition of story properties, creative and technical
personnel, exhibition outlets and consumer interest in their
products.
Our national cable programming networks, our regional
sports and news networks, and NBCUniversal’s cable
programming networks compete with other cable networks
for distribution by multichannel video providers.
NBCUniversal’s broadcast networks compete with the other
broadcast networks to secure affiliations with independently
owned television stations in markets across the country,
which are necessary to ensure the effective distribution of
network programming to a nationwide audience.
Filmed Entertainment
NBCUniversal’s filmed entertainment business competes for
audiences for its films and other entertainment content with
other major studios, and, to a lesser extent, with independent
film producers, as well as with alternative forms of
entertainment. Its competitive position primarily depends on
the number of films produced, their distribution and marketing
success, and consumer response. The filmed entertainment
business also competes to obtain creative and technical
talent, including writers, actors, directors and producers, and
scripts for films. NBCUniversal’s filmed entertainment
business also competes with the other major studios and
other producers of entertainment content for distribution of
their products through various exhibition and distribution
outlets and on digital media platforms.
Theme Parks
NBCUniversal’s theme parks business competes with other
highly capitalized, multi-park entertainment companies. It
also competes with other forms of entertainment, lodging,
tourism and recreational activities.
Seasonality
Advertising revenue in our Cable and Programming
segments and NBCUniversal’s businesses is subject to
seasonal advertising patterns and changes in viewership
levels. U.S. advertising revenue is generally higher in the
second and fourth calendar quarters of each year, due in part
to increases in consumer advertising in the