COMCAST, NBC UNIVERSAL MEET WITH LATINO  ORGANIZATION LEADERS TO PROMOTE MERGER

By Adrian Rocha

Reaching out to groups that otherwise might oppose the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC Universal, the two corporate communications entities are holding private meetings with an array of Latino and other advocacy groups in several U.S. cities. 

  

On March 1 it was the Hispanic turn.

  

Among those invited to a private hour-long session at Comcast headquarters in Philadelphia were leaders of half a dozen major Latino organizations.

  

Among them were Janet Murguía, president and CEO of the National Council of La Raza, League of United Latin-American Citizens national executive director Brent Wilkes, president Alex Nogales of the National  Hispanic Media Coalition and Lillian Rodríguez López, chair of the National Hispanic Leadership Agenda.

  

Cuban American National Council president and CEO Guarioné Díaz, also there representing the Hispanic Association on Corporate Responsibility, called the meeting “a good starting point” for discussions, saying that the Latino leaders “put a number of different issues on the table.”

  

Comcast was represented by several of its corporate leaders, including chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, executive vice president David Cohen and vice president Susan Gonzáles.

  

NBCU president Jeff Zucker and executive vice president of diversity Paula Madison were among those representing its interests.

  

Díaz characterized the meeting as a friendly  preliminary step to acquaint Hispanic leadership generally with the merger developments to date and to listen to Hispanic concerns.

  

Comcast’s proposal to acquire control of NBCU is still being scrutinized by Congress and the Federal Communications Commission. The national Telemundo Network is part on NCBU. Included are 16 Telemundo owned-and-operated stations in cities such as Los Angeles, New York, Miami, Houston, Chicago and Dallas/Ft.Worth.

  

Hispanics attending the meeting, which also included president Ignacio Salazar of SER-Jobs for Progress National, called for, and were promised, more details concerning Comcast’s commitment to serving the Hispanic population.

  

Reactions within the Hispanic community to the possible merger are mixed, with some advocates like Joe Torres, government relations manager for Free Press, vehemently opposed. If the merger goes through, “Comcast will be a bigger gatekeeper in the industry,…a disaster for Latinos,” he told Hispanic Link News Service.