Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, talks with John Battelle about TV, internet, and the future of communication.
They explore the new possibilities that are opening up as internet connections grow ever faster, as well as other hot topics like online video and net neutrality.
Bio
John Battelle
John Battelle is an entrepreneur, journalist, professor, and author. Currently founder and chairman of Federated Media Publishing, he is also a founder and executive producer of conferences in the media, technology, communications, and entertainment industries as well as "band manager" with BoingBoing.net.
Previously, Battelle was founder, chairman, and CEO of Standard Media International (SMI), publisher of The Industry Standard and TheStandard.com. Prior to founding The Standard, Battelle was a co-founding editor of Wired magazine and Wired Ventures.
He is the author of The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture (Portfolio, 2005).
Brian L. Roberts
Brian L. Roberts is Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services. Under his leadership, Comcast has grown into a Fortune 100 company with $34.3 billion in revenues, 23.9 million customers and 100,000 employees. Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, and ten sports networks operated by Comcast Sports Group and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet businesses, including Comcast.net.
Mr. Roberts is a member of the Board of Directors of the National Cable and Telecommunications Association (NCTA) where he served as Chairman for two consecutive terms from 2005 to 2007. He has won numerous business and industry honors for his leadership. In 2009, Institutional Investor magazine named him as one of America's top CEOs for the sixth year in a row. In 2008, he was recognized by Big Brothers Big Sisters for his outstanding leadership in the community and for serving as a role model to youth.
In May 2007, he was presented with the cable industry's highest honor, the National Cable and Telecommunications Vanguard Award for Distinguished Leadership. In October of 2006, he was inducted into the Cable Television Hall of Fame.
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts responds to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski's push to formalize net neutrality guidelines. "Tell me exactly what it means and what problem we're solving that requires an act of government," he says. "The idea that we're not going to have an open Internet is just not realistic."
Comcast CEO Brian Roberts discusses how his company has adopted social networking sites like Twitter to help improve customer service. "Use of social networking and use of transparency...has been fantastic for us," he says.