Steve Burke

In what some describe as a coup, Philadelphia's Comcast Corp. has snagged a rising star at ABC and Walt Disney Corp. to head its cable-television division. Steve Burke, president of ABC Broadcasting, was named president of Comcast Cable Communications Inc. effective immediately, the company announced yesterday. He replaces Thomas G. Baxter, who resigned in January. The 40-year-old Burke had been responsible for 10 ABC-owned television stations as well as the ABC Radio Group, which consists of 27 radio stations and eight radio networks, and Buena Vista Television, the company's domestic syndication arm. Disney owns ABC. Burke is a 12-year Disney veteran who helped found The Disney Stores and also headed Euro Disney S.A. "He's really a terrific guy," said David Londoner, managing director of Wertheim Schroder & Co., a New York investment firm.

Steve Burke, like his father before him, is going to run a TV network. Burke, the No. 2 executive at Comcast Corp., was named on Sunday to run NBC Universal Inc. when the cable giant acquires 51 percent of the entertainment and news giant, which could be later this year. Philadelphia-based Comcast announced Burke's position as chief executive officer of NBCU two days after Jeff Zucker, the current head of NBCU, told employees on Friday morning in an e-mail he would leave when the Comcast/NBCU deal closes.

Former Showtime boss Robert Greenblatt - who has been associated with the shows Dexter and Weeds and the mini-series Sleeper Cell - has been tapped by Comcast Corp. to fix the deeply troubled NBC broadcast-TV network. Comcast officials say they believe Greenblatt is a "big get" because of his experience at Showtime, a division of CBS, and Fox. Yanking NBC's prime-time ratings out of the basement is considered one of the most challenging tasks facing Comcast once it gains control of the NBC cable and broadcast-TV network.

"We will pay back the loans. " - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, dismissing the possibility of delaying his country's debt repayments. "I don't want to be the kind of CEO who's picking thread colors on jeans pockets, but the team needs me right now. " - Urban Outfitters Inc. chief executive officer Glen T. Senk, taking blame for disappointing quarterly results and promising a hands-on approach. "The Federal Reserve has unilaterally taken it upon itself to levitate asset prices.

A Comcast Corp. regional sports network will assume sports coverage for an NBC TV station in northern California, the first case of the cable company's sports content replacing a traditional sports report at an NBC broadcast affiliate. NBCUniversal will examine whether similar synergies exist in other markets where it owns a local TV station and a regional sports network, including Philadelphia, where the company owns NBC10. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, acquired 51 percent control of NBCUniversal in January.

Comcast Corp. is consolidating more of its operations at its 1500 Market Street headquarters, including moving its online operations and its customer-service division from Bala Cynwyd and creating a national training center. The training center will be called Comcast University. Comcast is also moving staff it has in other offices in the city to 1500 Market Street. "We have people in disparate places, and I think it is important for everyone to be in the same place," said Steve Burke, who joined Comcast a year ago from Walt Disney Co. to head its cable division.

The revitalizing of Admiral Wilson Boulevard is on schedule, an engineer with the Delaware River Port Authority assured about 30 members of the Camden County Citizens Advisory Board this week. Steve Burke, the engineer, presented the time line Wednesday for the $45 million project, saying letters with offers to purchase land had been sent to 66 percent of the 45 landowners. Offers to the others are to be sent in a few weeks. The Port Authority wants to acquire and demolish all structures on the south side of the boulevard between the Federal Street Overpass and Charlton's Creek by July, though Burke added that a more realistic estimate was by winter.

The top programming executive at Comcast Corp. in Philadelphia, former News Corp. executive Jeff Shell, is being considered for a role at Tribune Co., the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times and the owner of more than 20 television stations. Shell, 44, would run the broadcast-TV and newspaper company, which is reorganizing in Bankruptcy Court, with former Walt Disney Co. chief executive officer Michael D. Eisner, 68. Shell also held positions at Disney and Salomon Bros.

LAUSANNE, Switzerland - On the eve of their effort to win the television rights for the Olympic Games beginning in 2014, Comcast Corp. chairman and CEO Brian L. Roberts and his top officers made final preparations Monday, and did it behind closed doors at the handsome Hotel Beau Rivage Palace. The executives of the Philadelphia cable giant are camped out on the shores of Lake Geneva in this world-class resort by virtue of their purchase of NBCUniversal Inc. in January. How Comcast handles the bidding Tuesday - an aggressive offer to ensure that NBC retains rights it has held since 1988, or a more prudent bid that reflects no stomach for losing $220 million, as the network did when it broadcast the 2010 Winter Games from Vancouver, Canada - is likely to be as interesting as the outcome itself.

It's a small French-speaking town on the sun-licked shores of Lake Geneva where visitors are drawn to the leisurely pursuits of bike riding, wine tasting, and architecture gazing. But this week, the nation's top U.S. media executives, among them Brian Roberts of Comcast Corp., will travel to Lausanne, Switzerland, not in pursuit of these timeless pleasures, but in the hunt for one of the biggest prizes in sports entertainment. The International Olympic Committee will hold its auction for the U.S. TV rights to the 2014 and 2016 Olympic Games at its headquarters in Lausanne on Monday and Tuesday, and the winner will walk away with Olympic bragging rights and the potential ratings bonanza that comes with the airing of hundreds of hours of eyes-glued-to-the-TV sports footage.

"We will pay back the loans. " - Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, dismissing the possibility of delaying his country's debt repayments. "I don't want to be the kind of CEO who's picking thread colors on jeans pockets, but the team needs me right now. " - Urban Outfitters Inc. chief executive officer Glen T. Senk, taking blame for disappointing quarterly results and promising a hands-on approach. "The Federal Reserve has unilaterally taken it upon itself to levitate asset prices.

Legendary TV executive Dick Ebersol is leaving as head of NBC Sports only weeks before the broadcast network, now controlled by Comcast Corp., is expected to bid for the next round of Winter and Summer Olympics - coverage that over the years brought Ebersol extraordinary acclaim. Ebersol, who also cocreated Saturday Night Live , made the announcement Thursday. Negotiations for the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will take place early in June in Switzerland.

When Comcast put up $13.8 billion to take control of NBCUniversal in January, it got theme parks that are tons of fun, studios that can produce hit movies, cable networks like USA and Bravo that spew money out the bottom line. And a big, heavy ball and chain that weighs the deal down: the worst prime-time lineup on network television, the perennial loser that is NBC. Comcast is intent on turning that weight into a helium balloon. Three weeks from Monday, it will make its first major move, with the presentation to potential advertisers of its fall schedule.

A Comcast Corp. regional sports network will assume sports coverage for an NBC TV station in northern California, the first case of the cable company's sports content replacing a traditional sports report at an NBC broadcast affiliate. NBCUniversal will examine whether similar synergies exist in other markets where it owns a local TV station and a regional sports network, including Philadelphia, where the company owns NBC10. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company, acquired 51 percent control of NBCUniversal in January.

Former Showtime boss Robert Greenblatt - who has been associated with the shows Dexter and Weeds and the mini-series Sleeper Cell - has been tapped by Comcast Corp. to fix the deeply troubled NBC broadcast-TV network. Comcast officials say they believe Greenblatt is a "big get" because of his experience at Showtime, a division of CBS, and Fox. Yanking NBC's prime-time ratings out of the basement is considered one of the most challenging tasks facing Comcast once it gains control of the NBC cable and broadcast-TV network.

Steve Burke, like his father before him, is going to run a TV network. Burke, the No. 2 executive at Comcast Corp., was named on Sunday to run NBC Universal Inc. when the cable giant acquires 51 percent of the entertainment and news giant, which could be later this year. Philadelphia-based Comcast announced Burke's position as chief executive officer of NBCU two days after Jeff Zucker, the current head of NBCU, told employees on Friday morning in an e-mail he would leave when the Comcast/NBCU deal closes.

The top programming executive at Comcast Corp. in Philadelphia, former News Corp. executive Jeff Shell, is being considered for a role at Tribune Co., the publisher of the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times and the owner of more than 20 television stations. Shell, 44, would run the broadcast-TV and newspaper company, which is reorganizing in Bankruptcy Court, with former Walt Disney Co. chief executive officer Michael D. Eisner, 68. Shell also held positions at Disney and Salomon Bros.