Comcast CEO Brian Roberts on NBC News: ‘It is the crown jewel of Comcast’

By Alex Weprin 

A few days after “Morning Joe hosts  Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski joked to TVNewser that they hadn’t event heard from the new bosses at Comcast, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts was a guest on their program today to discuss the company’s fourth-quarter earnings, its first earnings report since closing the deal to acquire NBC Universal.

They started out by asking Roberts about his thoughts on NBC News and MSNBC:

“I will tell you my view on news, it is the crown jewel of Comcast,” Roberts said. “It may not be the biggest part of the new company, but it is a huge responsibility and an opportunity and I take it quite seriously. All parts of NBC News and MSNBC.”

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Mika also asked Roberts if he or new NBCU CEO Steve Burke had any plans to make changes to the news division, or the company as a whole:


“I have a lot of confidence in Steve Burke,” Roberts said. “He is going to make some changes, and a lot of them have been made already. We wanted to hit the ground and not have uncertainty with the employees.

At its roots, at its essence, why we bought NBCUNiversal was to restore, rebuild, re-grow and invest, not to radically change or undo, but to try and build up. To take some of the great brands and traditions and invest in them.”

Related: TVNewser asks Joe, Mika and Steve Capus and about Comcast’s control of NBC News

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