Comcast 2010 Annual Report Download - page 28

Table of Contents
23
Comcast 2010 Annual Report on Form 10-
K
commercial e-mails. Additional and more restrictive
requirements may be imposed if and to the extent that state
or local authorities establish their own privacy or security
standards or if Congress enacts new privacy or security
legislation.
Advertising Restrictions
Legislation has been introduced and reports from various
government agencies have been issued from time to time
urging that restrictions be placed on advertisements for
particular products or services, including prescription drugs
and the marketing of food or violent entertainment to children.
We are unable to predict whether such reports will result in
legislative proposals, whether legislative proposals may be
adopted, or, if adopted, what impact they will have on our
businesses.
Environmental Matters
Certain of our business operations are subject to local, state
and federal environmental laws and regulations and involve
air emissions, wastewater discharges, and the use, disposal
and cleanup of toxic and hazardous substances. Any failure
to comply with environmental requirements could result in
monetary fines, civil or criminal sanctions, third-party claims
or other costs or liabilities. NBCUniversal has been
responsible for the cleanup of environmental contamination
at some of its current and former facilities and at off-site
waste disposal locations, although its share of the cost of
such cleanups to date has not been material. Environmental
requirements have become more stringent over time, and
pending or proposed new regulations could impact our
operations or costs. For example, climate change regulation,
such as proposed greenhouse gas emissions limits or cap
and trade programs, could result in an increase in the cost of
electricity, which is a significant component of our operational
costs at some locations. We are unable to accurately predict
how these requirements might be changed in the future and
how any such changes might affect our businesses.
Other FCC Regulations
The FCC actively regulates other aspects of our businesses,
including the mandatory blackout of syndicated, network and
sports programming; customer service standards; political
advertising; Emergency Alert System requirements for analog
and digital services; origination cablecasting (i.e.,
programming locally originated by and under the control of
the cable operator); equal employment opportunity; lottery
programming; recordkeeping and public file access
requirements; telemarketing; technical standards relating to
operation of the cable network; and regulatory fees. We are
unable to predict how these regulations might be changed in
the future and how any such changes might affect our
businesses. In addition, while we believe that we are in
substantial compliance with FCC rules, we are occasionally
subject to enforcement actions at the FCC, which can result
in our having to pay fines to the agency.
Employees
As of December 31, 2010, we employed approximately
102,000 employees, including part-time employees. Of these
employees, approximately 86,000 were associated with our
Cable business and the remainder were associated with our
Programming and other businesses. As of December 31,
2010, approximately 4,000 of our employees (including part-
time employees) were covered by collective bargaining
agreements or had organized but were not covered by
collective bargaining agreements. We believe we have good
relationships with our employees.
Caution Concerning Forward-Looking
Statements
The SEC encourages companies to disclose forward-looking
information so that investors can better understand a
company’s future prospects and make informed investment
decisions. In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we state our
beliefs of future events and of our future financial
performance, including as a result of the NBCUniversal
transaction. In some cases, you can identify these so-called
“forward-looking statements” by words such as “may,” “will,”
“should,” “expects,” “believes,” “estimates,” “potential,” or
“continue,” or the negative of these words, and other
comparable words. You should be aware that these
statements are only our predictions. In evaluating these
statements, you should consider various factors, including
the risks and uncertainties listed in “Risk Factors” and in
other reports we file with the SEC.
Additionally, we operate in a highly competitive, consumer
-
driven and rapidly changing environment. The environment is
affected by government regulation; economic, strategic,
political and social conditions; consumer response to new
and existing products and services; technological
developments; and, particularly in view of new technologies,
the ability to develop and protect intellectual property rights.
Our actual results could differ materially from our forward-
looking statements or as a result of any of such factors,
which could adversely affect our business, results of
operations or financial condition. We undertake no obligation
to update any forward-looking statements.