Comcast Roundup: Brian Roberts at Web 2.0 Summit, latest on NBC deal and More

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Comcast CEO Brian Roberts made a big splash with his presence at San Francisco’s Web 2.0 Summit this week.

• CNET reports that his opening talk at the summit focused on casting Comcast in the same entrepreneurial spirit for which the Bay Area is known.
• Tech Crunch reports that Roberts said the company’s use of Twitter and other social media has changed their entire culture.
• Silicon Alley Insider reports that Roberts characterized net neutrality as “a solution seeking a problem.”

After the jump, continued coverage of a possible purchase of NBC, On Demand Online by year’s end more than a dozen other Comcast stories of note.
The latest news on the NBC bid:

• Reuters reports that verified details remain hazy, but Comcast and General Electric, NBC-Universal’s parent company, are keeping their options open and talks are continuing.
• The Wall Street Journal reports that G.E. is roughly $500 million away from an agreement with Vivendi on what the French cable company should be paid for its minority stake in NBC. PaidContent reports on the proposed process of Vivendi selling its 20 percent stake to G.E., which would then sell a portion to Comcast to then combine assets. Portfolio.com reports on the talks moving forward and how the proposed deal could lead to majority ownership by Comcast.
• The New York Times profiles Vivendi and its shifting identity, and also tries to evaluate the real worth of NBC.
• The N.Y. Times’ Media Decoder blog reports that former News Corp. President Peter Chernin is advising Comcast on its bid for NBC. The Los Angeles Times reports that his role is more as friend than paid consultant.

MIGHT BE WORTH YOUR TIME

The Inquirer’s Bob Fernandez reports that Comcast’s On Demand Online will be live by the end of the year, putting content from 24 cable networks on the Web and only made accessible for Comcast customers. The Associated Press reports that the 5,000 trial users will at first only be able to access the networks from their home computers after their cable subscriptions are verified.
The N.Y. Times reviews a book on media moguls, which includes coverage of Comcast chief Roberts.
The Washington Post’s tech blogger reports that Facebook, Amazon, Twitter and other Web powerhouses have come on board for the FCC’s vision of net neutrality, which, as mentioned above, isn’t entirely seen the same way by Comcast.

GIVE A GLANCE

The Boston Globe reports that 64 advertising jobs were cut at a regional facility there.
The Harrisburg Patriot News reports that Comcast rates for that region’s subscribers could go up come Nov. 1.
When there is just too much Comcast news to follow, the Comcast Roundup will be there every Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. EST