Report: Comcast-NBC Deal Failed To Help Minority-Owned TV Channels

A former NBCUniversal executive said Friday that a deal struck by Comcast and civil rights groups never gave minority-owned channels a real chance to succeed, as the cable giant continued to take heat over its racial discrimination case before the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Philadelphia Inquirer reports before winning federal approval in 2011 to merge with NBCUniversal, Comcast signed a pledge to launch minority-owned television networks in an agreement with the NAACP, National Urban League, and National Action Network.

But the agreement did not guarantee the channels a minimum number of subscribers, or fees per subscriber, to help the new networks succeed, said Paula Madison, a former executive vice president and chief diversity officer at NBCUniversal. Her statement was released by Entertainment Studios, the company run by Byron Allen, who is suing Comcast for $20 billion in a racial-discrimination lawsuit.

Paula Madison

“Comcast was bound by the agreement to launch the cable networks but was not bound to distribute to a requisite number of households/subscribers so the channels never had a good chance of having a profitable and successful business,” Madison said.

Comcast needed approval from the Federal Communications Commission to acquire NBCUniversal and reaching an agreement with civil rights groups was seen as pivotal in getting the FCC’s support.

Comcast completed the purchase on January 2011.

Madison spoke out Friday, a day after music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs similarly criticized Comcast over its carriage of minority-owned channels. Combs’ Revolt TV is also carried by Comcast, but Combs said the channel has not received “the level of support needed to build a successful African American-owned network.”

Revolt and film director Robert Rodriguez,'s El Rey television network were announced as part of Comcast’s pledge in 2010 to carry more minority-owned companies. Also on Friday, Rodriguez said he agrees with Combs that Comcast has not done enough to support the networks.